


Fifth Act

by fadeverb



Series: Kai and Mannie [12]
Category: In Nomine
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 14:19:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 100,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadeverb/pseuds/fadeverb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kai discovers that the big jobs aren't always the ones that trip you up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which An Ofanite Is Upgraded

At the bottom of the Tether, I pull on the new vessel the Boss gave me, and shake hands with the waiting Seneschal. Currently a green-haired teenage girl, but with Kyriotates that's how it works. "Kai, Ofanite of Creation, in service to Lightning. Thanks for the ride." The room's a back storage area, and I've been spending too much time in storage rooms lately. At least this one's on Earth; I've done enough inventory to last my a lifetime, this last month.

"No problem," says the Kyrio, waving one hand, though I caught that slight frown when I mentioned my current tangle of Word-service. Not my fault most of the Sword has decided to get annoyed at Dad, and I've learned there's not much I can do about it, so I let that pass without comment. "We're always ready to serve. Mieczyslaw, Kyriotate of the Sword, and Seneschal of this Tether. You can call me Mick, I know that's a mouthful if they only gave you English. What can I help you with?"

I check my pockets. Nothing there but my phone at the moment. "I could use a change of clothes, or at least a pair of socks. And a backpack for them, if one's handy. I'm picking up my Role at my next stop, so I expect they'll get me better equipped there."

The Kyrio shoves open a closet door, to show hanging clothes, boxes of clothing, several sets of shoes. "Take your pick," she says. "Backpacks on the far right. Do you need any money?"

"A twenty for incidentals wouldn't hurt." I reach into the closet, and frown. "Wait a minute--oh. I'm taller."

"New vessel? There's a mirror in the corner." The Kyriotate points over her shoulder, and sits down cross-legged on the floor to continue what looks like math homework. "Not your first time down?"

"No, this is my...um." I count back. Two before Dad gave me the Malakite of Creation attunement to keep me out of trouble, one that lasted until that run-in with the Game, and then my last and most recently deceased vessel. "Fifth. I kept one for nearly fifty years, but I've had bad luck this decade." I pick up the mirror, and spin in front of it experimentally. "Oh, come _on_."

"What?" The Kyrio looks me up and down. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

"It's all...Seraphy!" Not only am I taller than any of my previous vessels, this face has the sharp-angled look Seraphim favor. I check inside the jeans I'm wearing, and it looks like I'm male again, at that. Slight pity, there; I got better reactions in certain situations by being female. Mirror set aside, I head back to the closet. "Who were they expecting to take this Role?"

"Not tall enough to be much like a Seraph," the Kyrio offers. "It's a good vessel."

"Oh, I know." I reluctantly pass by the swirly skirts in the closet, and settle on a spare pair of jeans about the right size, two shirts, and several pairs of socks. They wedge easily into the backpack I grab from the stack. "It's a good vessel, and I'm lucky to get it after losing the last one in such a stupid manner. I'm just fond of smaller bodies. Easier to keep myself moving when there's less weight to deal with." I drop down into a headstand, handstand, then to one hand, though I can't hold that for long with this body. I need to practice with the new balance. "Moves well enough. I'll get used to it."

I drop back to my feet, and scratch the back of my head. Not that it precisely itches, but there's weird feeling in my brain right now. "I'm heading south, with plenty of time to spare. Need anything delivered on the way?"

"Actually, yes." The Seneschal passes me a twenty dollar bill, and then scrounges through the desk. "A few things for a Malakite of Stone in Sioux Falls, if that's not out of your path. Did you need a car? I have a spare in the parking lot, acquired from a Balseraph of Lust I disposed of. It needs to disappear soon to avoid questions."

"I have my own transportation, but that's summonable, so I can take the car off your hands. See if the Stonie wants it." I take the file I'm offered and stash it in the backpack with the rest. "That's practically on the way. Where do I find this 'kite?"

"I doubt the car would be appropriate. She'll be in school, at this time of day. But by the time you get there classes will be out." The girl flips through bits of paper. "This is Thursday, so she's in kendo. You can catch her outside the class at five thirty. Tall, brown hair, glasses, name's Ruth. Tell her Mick sent you with those papers for the research project she's been working on. Address is on the folder."

I tap the Symphony politely, and get an answer about how I ought to drive to that city, and how long it ought to take me with the way I drive. "Can that car you're loaning me get over seventy?"

"Probably."

"I can make it by five." I tip the Seneschal a bow, and stride out through the little synagogue to the parking lot, where an adorable sports car waits for me. Convertible, even.

Maybe I won't give up the car right away.

I hit Sioux Falls at a quarter to five, and make my way through traffic to the address just as people wander out of the building that proclaims it teaches martial arts, self-defense, and yoga. I wonder if they'd be willing to teach ballet--but I'm not here to pick up the job Dad gave me so long ago, I'm doing a favor for the Sword on the way to be a proper in-service-to Sparky. Can't help regretting that, but this is the best choice I was offered. I'm doing good work, if not always work I understand.

Passing on the files is a matter of a few minutes, and then I'm off to my car before it can get ticketed for its not-quite-legal parking spot (maybe Mannie's right when he says the time I spent with Windies wore off on me), back on the road to jitter impatiently through traffic until I can hit the highways. 

I usually spend long drives doing nothing but enjoying the speed, sheer pleasure of weaving between cars and going faster faster _faster_ in the most perfect route possible to my destination. But this time it doesn't work that way, not with the itch inside my mind. I spend the drive going over my recent mistakes, how I could have avoided them, and generally feeling like I've been a little dim in the past. It's not much fun as past-times go, and even finding a radio station playing nothing but The Beatles for a stretch of Missouri doesn't help.

The directions I was given back in Heaven lead me to an old farmhouse surrounded by fields of...something; rural agriculture isn't my area of study. I sling the backpack over my shoulder, and lope up to the front door to knock, first few bars of California Dreamin'. Barely past dawn, which means I'm early. I can only assume they give me so much time to reach appointments to allow for message delivery and the occasional demon smackdown between departure and arrival.

I've paced the front porch three times and figured out how far it is to the nearest coffee shop (answer: too far) by the time the door opens. A very old man, with dark glasses and a white-tipped cane, nods politely in my general direction. "May I help you?"

I stick out my hand, pull it back in when I realize he can't see it. "Kai. You should be expecting me?"

The old man chuckles, and pulls the door all the way open, stepping aside so that I can enter. It's a cute little house, done up in doilies and watercolor paintings. "Kai," he says. "Yes, we were expecting you. In another half hour. We were in the middle of breakfast."

"Sorry to interrupt." There's a half-finished plate on the table, and an old woman buttering a slice of toast as if it's made of glass and would break if she went much faster. "I could come back in half an hour--"

"No matter, son. You're here." He leads me towards the back of the house, pausing by a truly dreadful painting of a simpering angel hovering over a child in prayer beside a bed. "Besides, I've been given a marvelous machine by certain friends, which will rewarm a plate of eggs that has gone cold. And this is the clever part, son, it does so _without_ turning them rubbery. Don't we live in an age of wonders?" He reaches out and feels up along the side of the painting, touches the top corner of it. "Lucas, your Ofanite is pacing behind me in the hall. Shall I let him in? And would you like orange juice as long as he's heading down?" The old man nods after a moment, and I notice the hearing aid he's wearing. Trust Sparkies to work something clever into what he already needs. "You can head along," he says. "If you enjoy roast beef, lunch will be at noon. Just let Mollie know an hour or so before so that she can set an extra place."

A section of the wall swings out of the pink floral wallpaper, leaving me facing an elevator. "Nice setup."

"We think so too." The old man returns to his breakfast, and I step inside.

The doors slides shut. "Please speak for the voice recognition," says some hidden speaker.

I spin in front of the obligatory mirror. This body will take all sorts of getting used to; my last one was a few inches over five feet, this is a few under six. "I just got this body, how are you supposed to recognize the voice? I'm reasonably sure the Kyrio didn't have a tape recorder sitting around to send ahead samples."

"Speech patterns match," says the voice, and the elevator drops so fast my feet nearly lift off the floor.

The door opens into a sparkling-clean lab, full of equipment I don't know how to use and the smell of coffee brewing. "That was fun. Can I do that again?"

"See? Ofanite." A man with cropped hair and a half-smashed nose leans across a table to shake my hand. "Lucas, Mercurian of Lightning. They do that to anyone new, see who gets annoyed. I told them it wasn't about to bother a Wheel."

"Hardly. Can you make it go any faster?" Once hand-shaking is done, I keep my hands tucked in my pockets. Don't touch the lab equipment, don't touch the lab equipment... The first Sparky lab I spent long in, I ended up with a Cherub following me around with a rolled-up magazine to smack me on the head every time I touched something I couldn't immediately name, describe, and explain the uses of. I learned more about not touching than I did about lab equipment, although now I can tell a beaker from a Bunsen burner. Doesn't mean I can't walk, though, so I scout out the whole area, and track down the coffee pot. With spare mugs!

"Not without adding a _lot_ more power," says a woman with marvelously blue eyes. "Which we could do, but then we'd be taking power from other things, or requesting another generator, and if we ask for another generator they'll want to know why, and somehow I don't think 'we want a faster elevator' would fly well in the upstairs office." She takes a sip of coffee, and waves. "Welcome to the lab, Kai. I'm Penelope, Cherub in charge of this research station. I have a list of necessary items for you, but we'd be more than happy to give you a few other things to field-test, if you're up for the challenge."

"I'm up for a challenge, but I'm limited to what I can carry on a bike. Speaking of which, does anyone need a sports car? I left one outside that's fun, but too hot for me to use with a Role."

"I'll take it," says the third Sparky in the lab. Has a vessel built for contact sports, nearly absurd in the spotless white lab coat he wears. "Park it back in the garage, pull it out once in a while... Who owned it last?"

"Balseraph of Lust."

"All the more reason it should go to someone who will appreciate it, then." He tilts a wave at me. "Zuberi, Malakite. We don't run into many demons to smite down here, but I can appreciate a little vicarious smiteage by providing tools for others to do so better."

Penelope hands me a file, which I juggle with my mug of coffee without dropping either. "Your new Role. It's a sturdy one, so please take care of it. If you lose this vessel, we want to be able to pass the Role along to someone else. We expect you to put on a reasonable show of eating and sleeping at regular intervals, and all those human things. Any questions?"

"No, I've done long-term Role maintenance before. Shouldn't be a problem." I flip through the contents of the folder. The Role's name is Kyle Moss, twenty-two years old and licensed for all sorts of vehicles. Standard educational background, enough moving around to justify fuzzy memory if I run into any old childhood friends, and a B.A. in Drama with a minor in Dance. "I like the Role. What's Kyle been up to since he left college with a not especially useful major?"

"Photography." Penelope drops a heavy camera case in my hands, and then another case of some sorts of...bits. That go with a camera. I don't know what bits go with cameras that use real film. The closest I get to taking pictures is with my phone, grabbing snapshots of eyes for Mannie to Need-read upstairs. "Your Role has never taken a class in photography, so don't worry if your photographs are lousy. In theory, you're riding the country to take pictures of whatever strikes your fancy, intending to compile it into a book of the Real America. In practice, remember to shoot a few photos now and then. If they turn out marvelously, we can always get you published through one of our in-house presses, to give your Role more authenticity."

"I hope there's an instructions manual." I sling the straps over my shoulder. "Does it do anything special, or is that just Role-dressing?"

"It _might_ do something special. In theory, the combination of film and camera you're using will show any Discord on a target, once the pictures are developed."

"In theory?"

"Oh, the design works fine up in Heaven. Where everyone is in celestial form and _anyone_ can see the Discord someone wears. This is the first corporeal version. Thus the need for field-testing. Take pictures of any known demon you come across that you can manage, and especially if you happen to run into Calabim."

I consider the likelihood of me stopping to take pictures of a Calabite when I know that's what it is. "I'll try. What else do you have for me?"

"Not much more. Most of our test-ready prototypes are too bulky to carry on a bike, especially with all that photography equipment. But Zuberi whipped up something just for you, when we heard you were coming." Which suggests they knew I was going to show long before I heard anything about this assignment. Lightning works on a need-to-know basis, and most of the time, they figure I don't need to know.

The Malakite yanks open a drawer, and fishes through clanging equipment. "I left it somewhere around--ahah!" He pulls out a small black case, and presents it to me. "I read your whole file. The parts I have clearance for, anyway."

I open the case, and inside on black velvet lies a perfect silver piccolo. I used to have one, my favorite instrument for the speed I could play it, but it went up in flames with the rest of my apartment when the Game burned that place down. "Thank you." It feels inadequate. Such a perfect gift from a near-stranger.

"That's not all." The Malakite pulls the pieces out, notches them together, and hands the instrument to me. "Come on, see if you can tell what it is."

Now that I'm touching the piccolo, it fits in my hands with the pleased feel of an item that knows its place within the Symphony. "You made me a celestial artifact?"

"Celestial Song of Tongues. A great way to send messages, especially if using the phone would be too noisy or you don't know the other party's number." He slaps me on the back so hard I stumble forward. "Never know when that might come in handy. It's gotten me out of a nasty situation more than once. Builds up one Essence a day, and stores that much, so you don't have to worry about keeping your own Essence handy to use it."

"Thanks," I say. And because Mannie would remind me if he were here that you ought to repay people for their kindnesses, "If there's anything I can do for you--"

"Don't worry about it." The smile he gives me is more personal than before. "I'm happy to help another one of Dad's kids."

So another Creationer in service to Lightning. I'll swap stories with him if I have the time, and ask him for a few spare paperclips. But for now Lucas is pulling me away to explain the basics of photography.

Hour and a half later I know enough to take a focused picture without catching my thumb in the lens, and enough terminology to sound like an enthusiastic amateur. Penelope and Lucas suddenly find excuses to go do work in other rooms of the lab, leaving the Malakite and I by the coffee machine. None too subtle, but many angels would say Sparkies don't _do_ subtle.

"How long have you been working for Lightning?" Zuberi leans back against one wall so that he can watch me pacing my hands-in-pockets circuit without turning his head all the time.

"A bit over a year now. You?"

"Since a few years before Dad left. Didn't know at the time why he'd want me to work with a bunch of geeks, but he said they'd teach me different ways to make things. Turns out he was right." He takes a sip of coffee. "I mean, of course he was right. Always was. No doubt he's off working on some big thing right now. And if I don't get to hit demons so often, at least I get videos of what the things we made did to them. What brought you in recently? You have a perfectly ordinary file, and then out of nowhere, security clearances all over the place."

"It's complicated. But after I screwed up on some stuff, Judgment hauled me upstairs and told me I couldn't do corporeal work until I signed up with another Archangel, at least until Dad gets back."

"Why'd you choose Lightning? The shiny gadgets? The impeccable sense of retro-geek style? A chance to blow things up?" When Zuberi gestures with his mug, coffee sloshes over the edge. "Or did they not give you a choice?"

"Knew a lot of people in Lightning." One job for them when I got my last vessel, and then working to keep a brand new baby Tether together... I met more Sparkies between those two jobs than I met Windies in all the time I traveled with Jack. And Mannie, Lightning Servitor from head to toe to wingtips, who worries about me when he can't read my weekly reports. "And, hey, there's something to be said for gadgets." A phone that can dial up Heaven, so Mannie's never further away than that. Shiny speedy summonable motorcycle that needs a recharge at a Tether every ten thousand miles or so, a reward for calling Sparkies down when I realized where that baby Tether might go.

"And that's it?"

I pour myself more coffee, and add sugar until I want to go into more details. "And Jean...offered. I said no, and he told me the offer was still open." Too sweet coffee, but I can deal with that. By caffeine it's made holy. "When they told me I had to find someone who'd take me, or not get out to do Dad's work at all... I knew he would be there." I chuckle into my coffee. "Made an appointment and showed up for it. Isn't that weird? Making an _appointment_ with your Archangel?"

"It is." Zuberi smiles back at me, and that's something I haven't shared in a long time, this flavor of understanding. "Back when I was working for Dad, I'd drop by once in a while and say, hey, killed some demons, lost a vessel. Can I have another? Or he stop in for lunch and over dessert tell me about some place he wanted me to hit, a few new things I ought to try making. Now I submit weekly reports. Reports! Never once submitted a report while I was with Creation. It takes getting used to."

"Tell me about it. For the first two months, Gariel kept sending back my reports covered in corrections, comments, and all these new restrictions. Don't write your reports in crayon, Kai. Don't write your reports on napkins, Kai. Don't forget to date your reports, Kai. Don't give your reports to Windies to deliver, Kai." I scratch the back of my head at the tingling feeling, though the action doesn't really help.

Zuberi steps away from the wall. "Something the matter? You keep touching your head like something hurts."

I shrug, and spin in one place. Embarrassing to admit. "This is a brand new vessel. Lost my last one in a really _stupid_ way. And so I wake up, I do about two months of inventory and filing and other such things to give me time to reconsider how to do my job better, and then the Boss calls me in to give me this job, this vessel, and. Um. Another Ethereal Force. As he put it, 'So that you might form more successful plans of action.' And it _itches_. I've had it for less than a day, and my mind still feels all strange. Like things have gotten _too_ sharp around the edges."

The Malakite pats me on the shoulder, and it reminds me terribly of how Dedan, ever formal Cherub of Judgment, used to do the same thing. "Poor kid," he says, and he is likely older than I am, knows it full well if he's been reading whatever file Lightning has for me. "Force-grafting can be disconcerting for the first few days. How many Ethereal Forces did you have before?"

"Two."

He winces. "I can see how that would...yeah. What happened?"

"I was working on this little Impudite, see. Fuzzy side of redemption bait, not the obvious type that just needs a little shove, but close enough to be worth the time. Servitor of Baal, you know how those War-types can get about honor and the like."

"They don't have any proper honor," says the Malakite, who would know.

"No, but some of them believe they should, and it's something to work on. Anyway." I keep my hands locked behind me, gripping each wrist, and pace around a table. "We meet up this one time and he's starting to flip out, babbling about how much _trouble_ he could get in. What they would do to him if anyone found out. And what I should have done was push harder, get him to break through and make a commitment. But. Instead I backed off, told him to think about it a while longer. No rush."

"He thought you were weak," murmurs Zuberi.

"Exactly. It was _stupid_. That might have worked with some types, but it was an inappropriate response for the situation, Word, demon in particular, you name it. The next time we were supposed to meet..." I let one hand free to wave in the air. "It's a bit fuzzy around the edges from Trauma, but I got jumped by...I don't know how many of them. Went down hard. I'm told my vessel ended up in _pieces_. Double-digit pieces, even."

"Rough. Especially for your type, that goes through Trauma." He says that as if he's forgotten his is the only Choir that _doesn't_. "But you must be doing good work in general, or the Boss wouldn't be giving you this job."

"Oh, sure. I've done pretty well, as 'achieving stated mission objectives' goes. Right down the checklist. But I _really_ screwed up on that."

"So you'll do fine on this job, and get back into the swing of things."

"I hope so." And because I would rather admit it than not, "You know what makes it even worse? Going after that demon wasn't my _job_. Was working on it at the same time as another project. Got too confident, or something."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it," says the Malakite. "You recognize the mistake, you'll do better next time." He grabs the mug I left behind in the pacing, fills it up, and hands it to me. "So you really like the piccolo? Hadn't ever made one of those before, so it took a few tries to get it right."

"It's great. Best gift I've received since the motorcycle."

"Coming from an Ofanite, I'll take that as a serious compliment."


	2. An Intermission, With Windies

Jack swung Sharon off the motorcycle, and kissed her. "How are you holding up?"

"Still awake, though I'm not sure I could do any driving. I need dinner and a nap." She covered up a sudden yawn. "Okay, mostly awake. What time is it?"

Jack checked his watch. "Three in the morning. Looks like it's time for another 24-hour diner. Sorry about that."

"I don't mind. Yay on pancakes." Sharon gave him a sleepy thumbs-up. "Lead the way."

Over dinner Jack spread out the contents of his pockets to decide what he wanted to keep, and what ought to be distributed. Half the cash went back into one pocket, while most everything else was swept aside for disposal. "What do you think we should do with the money this time?"

Sharon drank down a glass of cranberry juice, and took a moment to revel in being able to afford as many refills as she wanted. "See if we can find a church with one of those charity donation boxes outside? Or stick it in an envelope and mail to, what's her name, that woman we ran into over in Portland."

"What, the lawyer with the glasses--"

"No, not her, the other one. The librarian with the pentacle--"

"Oh, right. Hit a library tomorrow to look up an address?"

"Works for me." Sharon poked through credit cards and sports tickets. Came across a familiar sort of cell phone. "Where'd you get this one?"

"The uptight Seraph at the last stop."

"Aw, Jack, you know how Sparkies get when you run off with their toys." She swiped the phone and dropped it into her own pocket for relative safekeeping. Not that Jack couldn't take it right back if he wanted to, but he usually respected her pockets.

"Exactly why they need to lose 'em once in a while. Keeps them from depending too much on that sort of thing, and reminds them of the transient nature of possessions." He had such an innocent smile she couldn't help but dissolve into giggles. "Besides, I'm pointing out the flaws in their security. Helping them learn better how to guard against further theft from _serious_ directions."

"You have an excuse for everything, don't you?" She waved a forked bit of pancake at him. "You're a troublemaker, you know that? An incorrigible scoundrel."

"A shiftless delinquent rogue," Jack said, and snatched her hand to kiss it. "And don't you know it. What _would_ your mother say?"

"That you ought to be better armed. Or at least, that's what she said when we stopped by for dinner."

"I'm not disreputable enough to make your mother nervous. I need to try harder." 

They found a motel to crash in, and after a time Jack left to wreak havoc elsewhere. Sharon curled up around a pillow, fell asleep.

Woke up when the door opened. "Jack?"

"Hey, babe." As always, nearly invisible in the doorway. She'd picked up his taste for black clothing, but could never disappear into the darkness the way he could. A dark shape bent down to kiss her. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up."

"That's okay." One arm over her, weight on the bed behind her, and she could feel as safe as any Cherub's attuned. "Have fun?"

"Mm. Ran into a little trouble. Nothing I couldn't take care of."

"Need healing?"

"No, babe. I'm fine. Just a little...head buzz."

Sharon froze. "Jack--"

"Don't worry about it." He kissed the back of her neck. "I'll take care of it at the next Tether we hit. These things happen, right?" Jack's fingers wrapped in hers. "Get some more sleep. We can head out in the morning."

She fell asleep again, but uneasily.

They lingered for a late breakfast and a library visit, then hit the roads as soon as the envelope was in the mail. A few miles down the road they abandoned the bike in favor of an SUV that, as Jack put it, could stand to be used for more than city streets. Sharon kicked her feet up on the dash and pulled out the phone. "So which Tether are we heading to?"

"There's no rush. I figured we could swing through a few other places first, work our way around to that one burned hill. Fire Tethers are good place to work off problems without getting Judgment breathing down your neck."

"We could head straight there--"

"And where's the fun in that? Come on, we can hit a half dozen more places before we need to head in that direction."

"Hey, you're the one driving." Sharon pulled out the cell phone, and cycled through the stored numbers. Only one name that seemed familiar, though she couldn't quite remember who it belonged to. "What do you want to do first?"

"Start with rerouting a few street signs, work our way up from there?"

"Sounds good to me." Sharon dropped her feet to pull open the glove box. "Hey, Jack, do you remember that time when we grabbed the TVs for an entire block of houses in the suburbs, and put them all back in different houses? We ought to do more stuff like that. The aftermath of that one was inspiring."

"If Kai were still with us, sure," Jack said. "But those are her sorts of plans. Breaking and entering is more my style."

"We should go see her again. It's been months." She tried for a casual tone, and was relieved to see that Jack didn't pick up anything else.

"Not a bad idea. Poor Wheel's probably lost half her sense of humor and most of her spin, working for Lightning. What say we track her down and shake up her life a little?"

"Track her down, sure. But not too much shaking, please."

"Spoilsport. How should we go about finding her?"

Sharon waved the phone. "Work out a trade? I'll call someone up, see if I can get them to tell us where to find her in exchange for the phone back. I mean, we're her friends, they wouldn't have any reason to turn us down."

"It's worth a try."

They pulled into the parking lot of a mediocre steak house for lunch, and then Jack left Sharon to browse a convenience store for a new tube of toothpaste while he went to acquire another car. Sharon waited until he was well out of sight, and then dialed up the name she hoped was who she remembered.

"Dr. Olson speaking, how may I help you?" The voice on the other end was cool and professional, and marvelously familiar.

"Zif? It's Sharon. Um. If you remember me, I used to run around with Kai for a while..."

A slight pause. "I remember, yes. How did you get this number?"

Sharon was unsurprised that the Cherub would ask that question. "Jack swiped a Sparky's phone. I figured I'd mail it back to a Tether, but I wanted to call first. Is there any chance I could get Kai's current address?"

"He's on a job," said Zif, and Sharon chewed on her lip. A pronoun switch meant a vessel switch, which probably meant the Ofanite had hit Trauma again. "I can pass on a message, though, if you'd like."

"Yeah, it's just..." Sharon walked out of the store, took a good look around her. No sign of Jack. "I'd really like to go see her--him. It's kinda important. I don't if you could work out a place we could meet with Kai or something?"

"What's the matter, Sharon?"

"It's..." She leaned back against a wall, and hated herself for saying it. "I'm worried about Jack, Zif. He has at least two notes of dissonance, and he keeps saying he'll stop by a Tether to work it off but he never does, and Nip left when they got into an argument about something and now I don't know what to _do_ , Zif. He keeps telling me he's fine. But I figure if he'll listen to anyone, he'll listen to Kai."

A longer pause, and she could hear something being written on the other end. _Please_ , she thought, _please don't be contacting Judgment, Jack would never forgive me._

"I'll give you the name of a place within easy reach of Kai's current position," Zif said, "and let him know that you'll be in the area soon. Please return the phone as soon as possible."

"I'll get it in the mail today. Thank you."

"Sharon? I'm going to give you another phone number. If anything should happen, I want you to call that number right away." There were unpleasant portents in how Zif said "anything". "That's the condition of giving you this information. Understood?"

"Where does that number go to?"

"Tell me that you'll call if the situation turns worse, Sharon."

"Promise." She could see Jack in a car entering the parking lot.

When the Mercurian found her again, Sharon was paying for toothpaste at the counter. "Ready to go?" he asked, one arm over her shoulders. The clerk gave him an unpleasant look.

"Ready as ever." They walked to the new car. "And, hey, good news. Managed to convince them to give me an address in exchange for the phone. Not where he's staying now, but close enough to meet up."

"Great." Jack paused, hand under the dash to hot wire the car. "Wait, Kai lost a vessel again?"

"Sounds like."

"Kid just can't keep himself in one piece without me around." Jack shook his head. "That's what comes of working for a Word where they're more worried about some abstract ideal than about individuals. He never should've signed up with them."

"She seemed happy in her job the last time we saw her."

"That's Ofanim for you. Give them something fast to drive and they're happy." Jack's hands drummed on the steering wheel as they pulled out into traffic. "We should stop by as soon as possible and see how he's doing. Make sure they're treating him right, not sending him off into anything more dangerous than he can handle."

Sharon tucked the phone away in her pocket, and stared straight ahead. "Yeah. Let's do that."


	3. In Which We Cannot Escape Past Relationships

Cory and I meet at my favorite coffee shop, nominally to work out the plans for the next Bright Lilim get-together, but in practice to catch up with each other in a neutral setting. She drinks sugary drinks topped with whipped cream, which strikes me as atypical for a Servitor of Michael.

"So," I say, once we're both somewhere private, "how much longer until they let you back on Earth?"

"Another month, at least." Cory plays with one of the Geas-bracelets on her wrist. "I still think they're over-reacting. My friends lose vessels all the time, and no one yells at them over it."

"Your friends are Malakim, Cory." I lean back in a too-soft chair, and try not to pull out my notebook. I'm not supposed to work while I'm on break. They can't stop me from _thinking_ about work, but Gariel insists I do something unrelated every so often, and I try to comply. "I would guess that they're more concerned with what precipitated the event. What were you thinking?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. Mother's Day is one of the more popular and sentimental holidays out there. I was only trying to be nice."

"The card was a bad idea."

"It was a perfectly good card!"

"Yes, but when you wrote 'Wish you were here' inside--"

"It was true." Cory sighs. "Is it so wrong for me to love our Mother? Or to want her here with us? I know your opinion on her, but I remember..." She sucks the whipped cream off her drink, and doesn't finish the sentence.

"Expressing it is unwise. I think that what they were yelling at you about, Cory, was the part where you included a return address on the envelope. You were lucky to only lose a vessel."

"Oh. Well. On reflection, that part _was_ a bad idea. Next time I'll just pay for tracking, if I want to know that it arrived." She stares thoughtfully into the air for a moment. "Maybe next year I'll send flowers instead."

"Now you're just _trying_ to give people headaches."

"What, and the Windies should have all the fun?"

A Mercurian enters the shop, flower wreathe in her hair and wispy sundress dangling from the edges of her shoulders. Several blessed souls give her surreptitious glances, and no few angels as well. Cory frowns to see her. "She's a ways from her garden, isn't she?"

"Be nice. The nature of Trade includes people of all sorts coming together, doesn't it?" Cory's expression remains resolutely disapproving. "And if Lin heard you thought that way about her fellow Servitors, she would become...tearful."

Cory twitches. "Heaven forbid. I remember how long it took to calm her down the last time Daane made that one comment. No, I have no problem with Flowers coming in for coffee. I only wish they didn't have to _flaunt_ it."

"Flaunt what?" The Mercurian is, so far as I can determine, politely acquiring a beverage and then flirting with a table of blessed souls in a cheerfully impartial manner.

"That whole...thing! Fluffy. Chipper. Pacifist. Like relievers who never grew up. Gives the rest of us a bad name. Makes you wonder if they do any _thinking_ behind those happy vacant eyes."

I take another sip of my coffee. "Says the one who sent a card with a return address to a demonic Tether." My Boss's opinion of Novalis and her philosophy is less than positive, but there's no need to be gratuitously rude.

The flower-decked Mercurian leaves the souls, and moves over to where the two of us are sitting. She leans down over the back of Cory's chair. "I won't try to argue about how many of us might or might not be vacant-eyed," she murmurs, "but some of us have _very_ good hearing."

Cory stands up. "I'll see you later," she says, pointedly keeping her back to the Mercurian, and leaves the shop with her drink half-finished on the table.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset her; I was only teasing." The Mercurian takes Cory's seat. "My name is Grete. You're Emmanuel, of Lightning, correct?"

"Correct." I suppose there can't be that many Sparky Brights floating through Heaven at the moment. "I go by Mannie. Was there something you needed?"

"An hour of your time, if you'd give it." She speaks more seriously than I would expect from Flowers. "There was someone who asked for you by name."

"I'm afraid I have, ah, projects to work on." None of which are urgent at this precise moment, but that can change quickly.

Grete puts two fingers to her lips. "I see. Would you be able to schedule in time soon, if you're busy right now? The demon who asked--"

"I'm not interested." That came out less politely than I'd intended. Old habits die hard. I stand up, remembering to take my coffee with me; Maharang can return the cup. "You'll forgive me if I'd rather not interact with any demons who happen to know me by name."

"I do wish you'd reconsider," Grete says. "We believe that it--"

"No. I'd rather not."

It isn't atypical for breaks to leave me eager to return to work, which is perhaps part of why Gariel insists I take them. This time I find myself more irritated at the request than focused on my work, once I return to the office, and that's another level of annoyance to have it distracting me. I begin to understand _why_ the Boss recommends avoiding extended interaction with Servitors of Novalis.

Irritation finally dissolves to the demands of work, and I spend a pleasant hour working out more efficient power systems for a prototype. I'll need to run field tests to ensure the wiring won't be raising interference patterns, but even those details should fall into place soon enough.

Maharang bangs in through the reliever flap on the door. "Mannie," it says, in a tiny exasperated voice, "there's a reliever out here who wants to see you, and it won't go _away_."

"If it believes the matter is that urgent, let it come in." My favorite reliever sometimes takes its duties as my assistant too seriously.

Maharang's wings droop. "But... Oh, okay. But it's not a proper Sparky reliever, that's for sure." It flies back to the flap and holds it open. "You can come in, then."

The reliever that enters is smaller than mine, and the patterns on its wings are distinctly...floral. It smiles sweetly at me, and hands me a daisy. "Got a message," it says, shyly. "For you."

I have a dreadful suspicion about this, but dread gets no work done. "Go ahead, Helper." Maharang rolls its eyes, and drops onto my shoulder to listen in.

The new reliever closes its eyes, clutching a second daisy, and slowly begins to recite. "A message from Grete, Mercurian Friend of the Gardeners, Seneschal of the Desert Botanical Garden. To Emmanuel, Bright Lilim of Lightning. Greetings! I respectfully request an hour of your time within the confines of my Tether, by the blessing of my Lady the Archangel of Flowers, for discussions regarding matters which you may have experience in. Please send word as to when you might be able to assist me in this matter, at your convenience. Regards, and peace be with you." It opens its eyes again, and settles down on my desk, stepping around the cup of coffee. "Got a message for me? To take back?"

"Not...yet." It has such wide, trusting eyes. Like Maharang, when my reliever first burst into my office to name off all the types of angels it had counted. "I'll need to speak with my supervisor about this." And request that he say I should do nothing of the sort. "I'll send word later."

"Going to speak with Gariel next," says the reliever. "Got a message for him too. Asking for permission for your time. Can ask him for you, if you want." It holds up its remaining flower to demonstrate the message it still needs to carry. "Want me to?"

"No. Thank you."

It nods, and leaves through the reliever flap. Finally. And I begin to understand what I've been told about Novalis, but not seen before. Avoiding violence doesn't make her a pushover or weak-willed.

Maharang sniffs, and stalks back and forth across my desk. "They shouldn't be asking for your time. You have important work! And things to do! And work, and stuff."

"If she's speaking to my supervisor, it's out of my hands. Gariel will make a reasonable decision." I reach for my coffee, and find I've finished it off. "Would you get me another cup? And see if you can find Kai; it's probably still doing inventory."

"Oh! I forgot!" Maharang clasps its hands over its mouth. "I was going to tell you when I finished class, but then you were gone on break, and then Teresa asked me to deliver a message, and I got to talking with Nosha about the new classes, and then when I got back there was that other reliever there, and I completely forgot!" Its eyes begin to go teary around the edges. "And Kai asked me to tell you and I didn't and I'm so sorry!"

"Maharang, kid. I'm not angry. I'm sure it wasn't urgent, or it would have called. Go ahead and tell me what the message was."

"Right. Um." My poor little reliever scrubs its eyes for a moment. "The Boss called it up, for a new job on Earth. Got a new vessel, and Kai wanted me to tell you for sure, a new Ethereal Force. Says it's going to be more careful this time, so not to worry, and it'll call at least twice a week. I'm sorry, I was going to tell you right away--"

"It's fine." And because relievers usually find running errands a source of happiness, I pass my mug to Maharang. "Why don't you go get me a cup of coffee? When you return, you can tell me about those new classes."

"Right. Right! I'll get right on that." Maharang dashes out with the mug in hands, post-haste. It's getting big for the reliever flap; another Force and I'll have to either make the flap larger, or ask it to start using the door.

It's just as well that Kai's been sent back to Earth again. I knew it was only a matter of time; he's of more use there, and happier there. I can't help the feeling of unease; I worry every time he's off preparing to run full-tilt into demons and see who flinches first. Most of the time my worries are left unneeded as he returns with stories of success or near escape, but the one time I returned to my office to find a comatose Ofanite floating there, deep in Trauma... It's hard to feel sanguine.

My much-neglected laptop chimes at me. I tavoid using the thing aside from necessities like email; I've never been comfortable with computers. They'd be useful enough in moderate quantities, but I dislike how people depend so much on a single set of devices. Especially a machine that's too finicky and delicate for me to build by hand. I don't mention this personal preference very often; the last time it came up in public, three Elohite Sparkies promptly conjured up computers to give me tutorials on the wonders of computing as well as one Seraph with the attunement.

Gariel wants a meeting with me. About the message from Flowers, no doubt. If I'm lucky, he'll be of the same mind on the matter as I am, and let me know how to politely refuse future requests. I leave a note for Maharang on the desk before I leave.

My supervisor's office is efficiently located in a position to minimize travel time from as many offices of the angels he supervises as possible. As I'm the most recent addition to his group, that leaves me with a walk time that remains on the outer edges of acceptable efficiency levels. 

Gariel's door stands open when I arrive. He flicks one of his wings towards the door. I close it behind me, and sit down. 

"A Servitor of Flowers requests your time."

"I received a message from her too." Two of Gariel's eyes blink; he hadn't heard that. "And was ambushed in a coffee shop by her, before that. Though I hadn't realized at the time that she was a Seneschal."

He shifts in his coils, and I see that the daisy is sitting in a mug half-filled with water, at the corner of his desk. "I usually deny these requests. Flowers doesn't appreciates the necessities of Lightning."

"But this time...you see fit to do otherwise?"

"Reasonable arguments. A small request. Speak with this Seneschal promptly." Gariel flicks aside a bit of paper on his desk. "Your next project will be complex. Time spent now prevents delays later."

"Understood." I feel my wings flick out from my back, and then back in again. It's a nervous reaction I haven't learned to suppress. "I would, ah, prefer not to. If there's any doubt on this matter."

"Zif sees no harm." His eyes blink in pairs, down the rows. "I expect you'll do your best."

Now that I've been guilted into it, of course. "I'll go take care of that immediately, then."

The Seraph nods, and returns to his work. He never would have expected otherwise of me.

There are disadvantages to being considered dependable; one can't throw a temper tantrum on the few occasions that one would like to be unreasonable, not without raising significant concern from all around. Teresa can throw a screaming fit every week and no one so much as blinks, aside from the newest relievers or visitors to the Halls of Progress. If I start snarling, Maharang asks what's wrong in a worried voice until I tone down my response.

For the first time, it occurs to me that my reliever might not have become attached to me by chance, no matter what either of us observed to be the case.

I leave another note for Maharang in my office, and compose an email to Nosha postponing our next meeting. I would far rather spend my time on work and in the company of friends than talking to or about whatever miserable demon this Seneschal has dredged up from my past. Most of my coworkers were incompetent, or so distracted by politics and backstabbing each other as to appear so. The competent ones were rare, and usually insane. There's not a one of them who I'd like to meet again, unless accompanied by several heavily-armed Malakim.

Maharang flies in just as I've sent the email to Nosha. "Coffee! New blend, so if it's really good, tell me, and I'll let the Seraph know to send this kind again. He says he has a new Kyriotate working for him, and it has all _sorts_ of ideas about how to mix things."

"Thank you." I take a sip, and make a mental note to be wary of Kyriotate cooking in any form. "I'm about to head out again, but I should be back in a few hours. If you're out of projects, Teresa could use help compiling the preliminary data the research group has been sending, so that we'll be ready to go when the rest arrives."

"I'll do that." It hovers in front of the door. "Mannie, before you go, could I ask you for permission to do something?"

"Certainly." I have no objections to a plausible excuse for delaying this unpleasant little chore.

"Well. It's like this." Maharang sits down cross-legged in the chair Nosha usually occupies, staring up at me gravely. "I was talking with Teresa about classes, and she sent me to talk to someone else, and, well, they're starting another round of Earth-experience classes. The ones where they teach you how to do everything properly on the corporeal plane, and hold a Role, and use a vessel, important stuff like that."

"I don't mind at all if you wanted to take those classes, Maharang. Plenty of relievers want to go down to Earth when they fledge. If anything, you shouldn't let running errands for me get in the way of your studies."

"Oh, it doesn't! I have plenty of time between classes. But, Mannie." Maharang folds its hands together in its lap. "The thing is, there are going to be some new places opening up for Role-building work. Long-term stuff for relievers. And there's this one Role that the teacher said I'd be perfect for, it's a little girl who's going to grow up wanting to know everything about science, a perfect Role for someone else to use later, really solid. And he said I could apply for that job when it's ready, about three months from now, if I took all the right classes first. And I want to. But I don't want to just leave you here, either, when you need an assistant."

No more friendly voice to chatter in my ear or peer down at my work from a perch on my shoulder, and I'd need to find any random reliever to send out for coffee or delivering messages. No more talks about Maharang's latest classes. It took the name I used to wear, because I wasn't using it anymore. Wanted to be a Bright Lilim when it grew up, no matter that everyone told it this was impossible.

"Of course you can go, Maharang." I step over to the chair, and scoop it up in two hands. It doesn't fit so neatly in that space as it once used to. "I'll miss you if you go to Earth, but I can find someone else to help me. Even if it does take a few weeks to teach them the filing system."

"Thank you, Mannie." It wraps its arms around one of mine. "You're the best angel _ever_." It leaps up into the air again. "I'm keeping you late when you're trying to go to an appointment! Sorry, and thank you!" It dashes out the reliever flap before I can say anything more.

Which leaves me to my newest duty.

Walking still feels more natural to me than flying, but flying is faster for where I'm going, so once outside the Halls of Progress I spread out my wings and take to the air. The Glade stretches out green below me in short order, a riot of vegetation and inhabitants.

When I land, my feet sink into soft grass. A disconcerting surface to walk on, after proper tiled floors and stone paths. Two Cherubim, deer and tapir, pause in their chase of each other to move in my direction. "Welcome to the Glade," says the deer-Cherub, fluttering her wings. "May I direct you anywhere?"

"For shame," says the other Cherub. "You assume that he's new."

"Oh, I would have remembered if I'd seen him about here before." The first one leaps into the air, all four feet at once, and lands again neatly on her hooves. "Are you looking for a particular person, a location? Or did you want to join in one of the parties? There's a whole group of Creationers setting up instruments for a concert not far from here, and even to hear them warm up is lovely. Or if you only wanted to wander here, and perhaps wanted quieter company..." She smiles up at me.

If realizing an Elohite is flirting with me can be disconcerting, having a Flowers Cherub make that sort of expression at me is doubly so. "I'm looking for a place. Or a person, either will do. Grete, a Seneschal--"

"I know the way!" She leaps into the air again, and then turns to nose at the tapir-Cherub. "If you'll excuse me, dearest." Having received a touch I would call a kiss in a being more human-aspected, the Cherub trots along ahead of me. "If you'd just follow me? The path has some marvelous views."

I walk alongside her, hands in my pockets. "Is it far? I'd like to take care of this quickly."

"No time to smell the roses?" The Cherub laughs. "Oh, don't look at me like that, I'm no Windy to take you about in circles for the fun of it. The Tether entrance isn't far."

We pass through archways covered in vines, and walk along twisting paths between tall flowered bushes. Flocks of relievers scurry over our heads from time to time, playing indecipherable games. "I can't see how you find anything in here, amidst all this confusion."

"And I would find the Halls of Progress equally strange," says the Cherub, "if I've read your Word correctly. Straight lines and elevators, all those corridors... Don't you ever want to be able to look up and see the sky above you?"

"Not especially." I push a low-hanging branch out of my way, that she was able to walk under. It leaves my hand sticky and smelling of plant matter. "I find it easier to concentrate inside a set location where I can minimize distractions."

"What, no surprises?" She turns her head over one shoulder to bat eyelashes at me. I am definitely staying far away from the Glade in the future. "Sounds boring."

"In my line of work, a surprise usually means that something that ought to work has failed catastrophically. I prefer the predictable."

"To each their own. I like surprises, though." The Cherub dashes suddenly around a hedge, and when I follow her, I find myself standing in front of a tall archway where two trees twist there branches together. "Surprise! And here we are. Little Helper," she says, to a reliever that swoops out of the trees towards us like a glittering bird, "would you go tell Grete that there's someone come to see her?"

"Absoindubitalutely, sir!" It salutes, and vanishes down the Tether.

"Oh dear. What sort of company has that one been keeping? Relievers are so impressionable at that age." The Cherub looks concerned, much as I might if Maharang suddenly declared it wanted nothing more than to spend the day playing with relievers of Animals and learning to speak with the souls of aardvarks.

"I wouldn't worry. The reliever who helps me in my office spent its first few months insisting it would be a Bright Lilim when it grew up, but finally dropped the subject. They go through phases."

"I suppose so." She leaps into the air, flaps her wings once, and hovers there with all four hooves tucked neatly beneath her. "Shall I wait for you here on your return, to guide you back?"

"Thank you, but I'm sure I can find my way back out once I get above the ground."

"As you'd wish," she says, and sets her feet back on the ground. "Go in peace."

Considering that I'm about to be walking about in a Tether of Flowers, I doubt I have much choice.

The reliever pops out of the Tether again. "She says to come on down, thankyouverykindly, sir!" It snaps another salute at me, and goes back to lurking in the branches, presumably to leap out at passersby and salute them.

Downstairs, I pull my familiar old vessel back on. Unlike certain friends of mine, I've never had any other, and I've spent more time in this vessel than in celestial form.

"I'm glad you could come," says Grete, and sounds as if she means it. In this form, she wears practical, sturdy clothing, and her pants are marked with smudges of pale dirt. "I'll explain as we go, if you'd follow me?"

Here in her own Tether, Grete wields more power than any other creature who might enter, actual Superiors aside. But she passes inconspicuously through straggling crowds of visitors leaving the building. "The gardens are closing in a few minutes," she explains, as we step outside into baked-hot air. "Once more of the crowds have cleared, we'll have some privacy."

Low vegetation and walking trails stretch out around us. A near-full moon creeps above the horizon in the twilight hours. I pull off my jacket in the lingering heat. "I wouldn't have expected your Boss to have one of these in a desert."

"Even the desert grows flowers, Mannie. People speak about a desert as if that meant absence of life, but it's as full as any swamp or savannah." She runs her fingers through the leaves of the plants set about the trail as we walk. "Some would say that the rarity of the desert wildflowers, and the way they grow out of such harsh conditions, make the flowers all the more beautiful."

Grete leads us away down a beaten dirt trail, further from the main buildings, as in the distance a recorded voice announces that the botanical gardens are now closed for the night. "Thank you for coming. I realize you'd rather not meet with those you used to work with. If she hadn't asked for you specifically, I wouldn't have made this request."

"Why does she want to see me?" For all I know this demon has one of the names I forgot when I lost an Ethereal Force to the pains of redemption, and I'll have no memory of her, nothing of use to say.

For a moment, I find myself with the hope that it's one particular demon I once knew--but it's unlikely. Strange, though, that there is an old coworker I would want to see, at least under these circumstances. Aglaya was one of the competent, insane ones, but I can have...hope.

"I'd rather let her speak for herself. She could use the practice." Grete stretches out her arms, and looks up at the sky. "It's a lovely night. A pity you can't stay for long; we have a telescope set up behind the library."

We come to an open circle in the path, with benches set up around the edges, and educational plaques on either end. Curled up with her feet beneath her, a young woman bends over a pad of paper, scribbling something out in the fading light.

"Tina," I say, and her head jerks up, eyes wide. She hasn't changed much since I last saw her; vessel designed to hit the geeky-cute aesthetic, a startled expression never sure if she ought to cower or try to explain. A baby Balseraph who spends more time lying to herself than to anyone else, trying to convince herself that she's competent and destined for greatness. Never showed any evidence of either. "What do you want?"

"You came." She stands up in sudden, awkward stages, as if she never learned how to wear a vessel properly. "I didn't think you would, I mean, I hoped, but I didn't think you would come, if you were really there, because they _said_ you weren't there, I mean, not up _there_ there, but--"

"Tina." I don't have the patience to deal with her babble right now. "Yes, I'm here. What did you want?"

She stumbles towards me, one foot after another, and I see she isn't holding a lined notebook, but a pad of drawing paper. Her fingers are smudged with charcoal. "I wanted. Um. To see if it was true. What they said." She takes a long quivery breath. "Because if _you_ can do that, maybe I can. Too. Maybe I can. If you can."

Grete unties a sweater from around her waist, and pulls it on. The air's growing quickly colder, as the sun falls. "This Tether is quiet," she says. "We're still well within its bounds. There will be no noise, if you take your true form here." With the slightest emphasis on _true_. 

I have never liked Tina, nor thought highly of her. But it's a small thing to ask.

I drop my vessel, the Essence spent to push it away somehow muted from disturbance, and take my celestial form. Very little difference, aside from the touch of pale aura that surrounds me, and my wings. Those I spread wide for her to see, all the blue lightning fractals displayed.

"Oh," says Tina, and she covers her mouth with both hands. "Oh. It's true."

I pull my vessel back on. "Yes, Lilim can redeem. And yes, it happened to me." I can't possibly say _I managed_ or _I was able to do it_ when all the terrible, beautiful process was the work of the Archangel of Lightning, holding my Forces together as I became something new. "They told you I was only a Renegade, didn't they?"

Tina nods rapidly. "Said there's no such thing as a, a Bright Lilim. That you were working for the other side, but that's all. And then they started calling for everyone who you had Geases and hooks in to come tell them, and I knew, I knew they'd never let me out again if I said, but they had to know, everyone knew how you could always hook the people working for you, and I broke my Heart and I ran and." She takes a deep, gulping breath. "Nearly got dead a bunch of times, but I didn't, and then _they_ found me, and said they'd help me. That I could actually. Try to be something else." Her fists clench. "Can I? Can I really?"

"I don't know, Tina. Some can. Some can't. Not even Superiors can always tell."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's what I hear. But I'll be okay, I know that I'll--" She stops abruptly, and shakes her head. "No! I'm not going to tell myself it's okay. Because I don't know. Not gonna. Lie. Anymore."

I'd expected to be annoyed at the inconvenience of this all, angry at old coworkers and subordinates who so often threw my projects into disarray, even concerned that it could be a trap with a Servitor of Flowers deluded into thinking the best of what a demon said.

I did not expect it to hurt.

"Anyway," says Tina, in a low voice, "I wanted to say thank you. For letting me get away. That time when you got all the Zappers--the Lightning angels into the lab. Because if I'd gone and lost my vessel, they wouldn't have given me another one. Only let me stay around because I already had a vessel and it was easier than getting someone new." She looks up at me, with a strange hope in her eyes. "Did you do it because you thought I might be able to try this, some day? You were a real angel then. Could you see it? To know I didn't belong there?"

It would be so easy to say yes, and reassure her, and be on my way.

"No, Tina. I wasn't thinking of you at all." I do not want to see her hopes break, but it would be cowardly of me to turn away. "I only let you run because I could track you again, and thought I might find another lab to destroy that way. I didn't care for you at all."

"Don't be cruel," says Grete, putting a hand on my arm.

"No! I want. To hear it." Tina lifts her chin until she's looking me in the eyes. "That's the truth. And I wasn't worth much. And you didn't have any reason to save me except how I might be, be useful to you. You didn't care. That was the truth." She takes another quavering breath. "Thank you, then, for telling me the truth. It's what I need to hear."

The night continues to bring the temperature down. I don my jacket. "I ought to go, Tina. I have work to do back in the office."

"In Heaven." Barely a whisper, from her.

"Yes."

"We should go back to the library," says Grete, and she offers the little Balseraph a hand. Tina clings to it fiercely, and the three of us walk back, careful to follow Grete's path in the darkness.

Back inside comfortable walls and under artificial lighting, Tina lets go of Grete's hand. "Can I ask you a question?" She's recovered some fraction of her composure, not that she ever had much to begin with.

"Certainly."

"You didn't care. I know. But. Do you care now?"

Keeping ever to the truth, when speaking to her now. "Maybe a little bit, Tina. It's hard for me to care about demons."

"Okay. That's what I thought." She scurries away, sketchpad clutched to her chest, and closes the door behind her.

"I think you've helped," the Seneschal tells me, and now despite all her grubby clothing and friendly exterior, Grete seems entirely the master of this Tether. "I apologize for saying you were cruel. She needs to hear the truth, even when it hurts."

"How did you get her?" I ought to be running back to my office right now, but curiosity has settled down on me once again.

"A Seraph found her. A Dominican, even. Read through her lies to know the Truth of what she was, and moved to kill her." Grete smiles wryly. "And I don't know what happened next, because the Seraph refused to speak about it, and all Tina would say was that he had pity when she cried before him. But he brought the child here. Hoping to wash his hands of the affair, I imagine. He seemed quite discomforted."

"I don't know what you'll do with her." Poor little Tina, always longing for the day she'd lord it over the rest of us. "She can't wash a vial without breaking it, or turn on a burner without catching herself on fire."

"And yet, you should see the pictures she can draw, when given materials and a quiet space." Grete smiles at me. "We'll take care of her. Thank you for your help. If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know."

That ought to be a dangerous offer, directed towards a Lilim of any stripe. And I could turn it down entirely, but...curiosity ever drives me forward. "Only one request. If she does attempt redemption, and survive, would you send word to me?"

"I'd be happy to do so."

Back in the Glade, a jumble of relievers fall out of the branches overhead, and resolve into three separate figures before me.

"Find what you need, sir?"

"Welcome back, sir!"

"Need any messages sent, sir?"

The three of them salute in unison, and then fall over each other giggling. It would appear some angel of Novalis has a long day ahead.

"Thank you," I say, "but I don't need anything." And then I take to the skies to return home.


	4. In Which Disreputable People Continue To Be So

I hoped the city would have some sort of hostel where I could crash, but no such luck. Dropped my bag off in the room of a motel advertising free internet service, and then I hit the streets to explore.

First item on my checklist: locate and identify the lab I'm supposed to investigate. The information I have to work with is so sketchy I can only assume they got vague word of the location from somewhere else, and I'm the first one sent to see if the lead's an actual problem worth opposing.

If the place is publicly known as a research facility, that'll make my job that much easier, so I start off with a quick Symphony ping for known local research labs. And then, perfect route building itself in my mind, I take off to see what I can see.

Lightning work is a world away from what I used to do, when I was still following through on the first job the Boss gave me. There's no time to build long-term connections with the humans anymore, not with the jobs they've been giving me. Finish one thing, and it's time to pack up and move on, go hit another city. Weird thing for an Ofanite to complain about, maybe, but sometimes I wish they'd let me stop running so much. Or give me a circuit. I like getting to know people, and being available if they need me, but the only people I see regularly are the ones upstairs.

I have a solid new Role, and that might be something I can build on. If not in this city, some other place, or even building up connections across the country with people in similar professions. The few places I stopped to take pictures on the way, half to practice and half to settle into the mindset for this Role, weren't anything great, but I have plenty of time yet to learn how it works. Surely there are groups for professional photographers that I can hook myself into.

I hit the twirling grace note in the Symphony on the outskirts of the city, perfect navigating line dropping me off at high walls, and a front gate with a guard house to the side. Neither friendly nor modest, but there's a glorious swarm of color in the autumn leaves that hang over the walls. I suspect the stretches of trees inside were intended for privacy rather than aesthetic purposes, but that doesn't make them duller.

One camera slung around my neck, I park my motorcycle and stride up to the guard house. "Excuse me, but what's this place?"

"Private property," says the guard, and if he has a faintly Djinnish look to him, it's nothing more than your average bored security guard might acquire in the late afternoon. The place can't be too private if the Symphony's led me here; my resonance can do a fine job of finding me a good coffee shop, but doesn't pull out secrets.

The guard leans half out the open window to take a look at my bike. "Have a flat? I can make a call for you if you need a tow." Likelihood of Djinnish nature drops remarkably.

"No, my bike's fine. I stopped to take a look at the trees." I snap the lens cover off my camera. "Is it a problem if I take pictures from here? And, do you know if there's anyone I could contact about a pass to look around inside?"

"Photographer, huh?" The guard shrugs. "I don't see any problem with pictures from outside, but they're not likely to let you in. Got to watch out for all those ecoterrorist whackos out there."

"Pity. The scenery is great." I take several shots of the trees over the walls. They gave me enough film that I don't worry about wasting any on mundane objects. Not that there's anything too mundane about this color. Got to wonder who came up with the idea of plants changing shades seasonally; wouldn't be surprised if Dad handled that part himself. "Why the worry about ecoterrorists?"

"You know how they are. Animal rights nutjobs who'd be happy to toss a thousand rabbits out into the wild to free them, never mind what that would do to the actual local ecology or those poor, caged little bunnies that don't know how to live in the wild. Because that would saaaave them." The guard rolls his eyes. "Like they expect us all to get back to nature and die of preventable diseases, to save the animals." He settles down into a more comfortable position, leaning through the window, as I pace by the wall looking for better angles. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm in favor of cruelty to animals. But sometimes science can't get anywhere without taking certain measures, you know what I mean?"

"Oh, I get what you're saying." There are a few Servitors of Jordi I know who'd be happy to rip the man's throat out for suggesting this, but that's not my area of interest. "What are they researching in there?"

"I don't know. All their technobabble's way over my head. Some disease or the like, I think. There are plenty of patients back there, mostly old folks, a few kids. Maybe some form of cancer?"

"They like to keep it quiet, huh?" I catch the guard in one of my shots, on the extremely low chance that he's a demon with some form of Discord.

"Right. I mean, most everyone knows they're out there, but they don't like any big publicity. Respect for patients' privacy, that sort of thing." He opens up a drawer inside the shack, and goes digging down for something. "Hey, tell you what. If you want, I can go ahead and let the director know you're around and want to take some photos. Maybe see if they wouldn't mind. They'll probably say no, but it's always worth asking, right?"

"Thanks, man. I'd appreciate it." I scribble out the contact info for my motel, and pass it over. "If they needed me to sign a waiver or only shoot in specific areas, I can do that, no problem. What's the name of the place? I didn't see any signs out front."

"It's the Richard Hodges Center." The guard takes another look at my bike as I mount up, and that's a trace of wistfulness on his face behind the professional discontent. "Hey, how fast does that thing go?"

"Pretty fast." I grin at him before my helmet goes on, and then kick out into the road with some serious acceleration.

I track down the nearest coffee shop, and then head out with mobile caffeine to walk the streets. First item of business is to report the name and location of this possibility for further research. Once that's done, I pull up my favorite number to call.

"Hello?" I can tell by the strained tone that he must be deluged in work right now.

"Hey, Mannie. Thought I'd call and see how it's going. Did the research group finally drop in the data for you to work with?" I snap a one-handed shot of some man arguing with a police officer over a parking ticket.

"A veritable avalanche of data, yes," Mannie says. "And despite being three weeks past due, they managed to forget the power readings I wanted, which means now I need to collect them in media res. We have to stop letting these teams that have never done Earth duty perform the original experiments; they act like energy is infinite."

"So yet again you're faced with a design for an item the size of a watch, that requires a two-hundred pound generator on an extension cord to power." A stray dog growls at me from an alley, and I snap its picture. "Sounds like your idea of fun. How long until you get the design down to something that requires a watch battery?"

There's a brief, note-scribbling pause on the other end. "You know me too well, Kai."

"Probably. Want to complain about the original team? I'm happy to listen."

"No, it'll only annoy me further. I _asked_ them to--" Mannie cuts off abruptly. "So what project have you been given this time? More of Aglaya's list?"

"Not this time. More like standard type B work." Which is to say: locate, assess, respond. "It doesn't look too interesting, but I've barely started."

"The last time you said it didn't look interesting, you ended up with, let me see if I recall properly, a newly-redeemed Cherub of Animals, a Vapulan lab burnt to the ground, and a Malakite of the Sword asking pointed questions about your tactics."

"I have perfectly good tactics. It's the strategies that trip me up." I can say this more breezily now that my last failure begins to sink into the distant memory of old mistakes. A new job to leap on, and if I can't step in swinging like I prefer, I can work my way up to the moment where I'm beating a Habbalite over the head with his own Bunsen burner. "He had no reason to complain, as he was the one who jumped in first without asking questions."

"So I recall you saying. Do see if you can avoid beating any more Malakim over the head. They seem to take it poorly."

"There aren't any around here that I know of, so shouldn't be hard." I can make out Maharang's voice in the distance. "Sounds like something just arrived for you. Should I let you go?"

"Apparently so. Be careful."

"Don't worry." I put the phone away, and do a quick spin on one foot. Enough to get me an odd look from one businessman hurrying by, and a smile from a little boy being dragged down the street by one hand. 

At a quarter to six I take up a position near the road between the research center and the rest of the city, and wait for the cars to start passing. Even if some of the staff has quarters there, people would _notice_ if everyone stayed there for the night. And a property that large, with some sort of patients, probably isn't entirely demonically staffed. Now, the tricky part is figuring out if it's Vapulan-founded and run, Vapulan-controlled, Vapulan-infiltrated, or a bad lead.

Life was simpler when my job consisted of teaching ballet to kids, and occasionally thwacking a demon who wandered through town. But it stands to figure that working for Lightning would make me do a lot more thinking that I used to. I snap photos of the people in cars that pass, and look like I'm aiming for the trees that still hold red and brown leaves above me. Another week and they'll all be fallen.

My phone zaps me, and I twitch. Some day, I will convince the design team to make the silent mode vibrate instead of snapping out an electrical shock. Haven't yet. I yank it out of my pockets, and I wasn't expecting to get a call from Zif. We've talked now and then, but she's Mannie's Cherub, and we usually don't have much in common beyond hanging around him at the same time. "Hello?"

"Kai. Jack and Sharon are coming to see you." To the point as always. "They're about an hour outside the town I directed them towards, not far from your location. The one to your north. If you're not otherwise engaged, would you go meet with them there?"

"Of course." Haven't seen Jack in--well, at least since before my last round with the complete un-fun of Trauma, and probably a few months before that. I'm always up for a visit with the oldest friend, even if he makes me change half my plans.

And maybe another Ethereal Force is doing me some good, because I remember to ask, "Why are you calling me about this? I'm glad to hear it, but you're not the vector I'd expect this kind of information from."

"Sharon called me to find out where you were. I didn't think it would be wise to give her the location of your current assignment."

"Stole a phone, huh?"

"And didn't realize we could track it."

I laugh at that. "Which would explain how you know where they are. I'll go say hello and see what trouble they're getting into. Thanks for giving me the message. Anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"Mm. Sharon's worried about Jack, and seems to be trying to keep this from him. If it doesn't interfere with your work, look into that."

"Worried about what?" I can think of a half dozen types of trouble that Mercurian's gotten into before, and he's annoyed people from just about every Word out there (except maybe Animals), but nothing that'd have Sharon trying to call for help without Jack knowing. Unless he's gotten into one of those situations where he thinks he can handle it, and anyone else can see he can't.

"Dissonance," Zif says. "I trust you'll be able to assess the situation." The line cuts off. She isn't the sort for more words than are necessary, especially on a matter so peripheral to her duties.

It's not so peripheral-feeling to me, though.

Working for Creation meant I never had to worry about Word dissonance; be cool, Dad said, and I tried my best to stick to that, did what I thought he'd approve of, had a triad come by to check on me when he wasn't around, no problems there. One time I got too self-turned about something I'd been forced into, stopped moving anywhere out of all sorts of stupid self-pity, but I dealt with that, Dad wiped my dissonance clean, and that was it. Never been much tempted to stop moving since, that really nasty week of being caught by the Game aside. I'm an angel, I'm an Ofanite, I'm a servant of the Archangel of Creation, and all of this is what I ever want to be. Going against that? Not on my agenda.

But Jack's a Mercurian, and he's not the happy fluffy kind of Mercurian that demons like to harass. Which is fine when he's up against demons, and I've been glad to have him at my back in just that sort of situation. Anything other than demons... he has a problem. And if Sharon's trying not to show Jack she's worried... he has a _serious_ problem.

Or maybe I'm overreacting, and he accidentally smacked a mummy again.

Either way, I'd like to see him. Traffic conspires against me on the way out of the city, and I laugh it down with my bike. Nothing like being able to sweep in and out between cars on a highway that's turned into a parking lot to brighten my mood.

The town I've been sent to hasn't anything more than the bare necessities required to support stretches of planned living communities. More a suburb than a proper town. I find the best coffee shop in town, and settle down with a newspaper to wait.

Half an hour in, Jack and Sharon sit down on a couch across from me. "How will we find him, she says. How will we recognize him, she says." Jack picks up one of the cranes I've folded out of a napkin. "There are only so many coffee shops in this place to choose from."

"Jack. It's good to see you." I leave my chair to drop between them on the couch, and give a hug to each. "What sort of mischief have you been getting up to of late?"

"Mischief? You wound me, Kai. I've been up to the level of mayhem for years." He grins down at me, though it's not so far down as it used to be. "This place is half past dead. Let's find somewhere else to talk. Quieter or noisier, but not this washed-out pop music place."

"They do good coffee."

"Doesn't justify their taste in music."

I let myself be hauled out of the shop, because I'd as soon be walking anyway. I find it easier to talk when my feet are moving. Find most things easier to do when I'm moving, though I've at least learned to do my reports on a reasonably stable surface. Got too many complaints about the ones I wrote while driving.

Sharon walks between us, one arm linked with each of us. She wears the same style of clothing he does, black leather and denim, and they look right together. Like two people who belong next to each other. "Hey," I say, "where's Nip? Parking the car? Finding another one?"

"Oh, Nip ran off a few months back," Jack says, and his tone is so breezy I know there's a story there he doesn't want to tell. "You know how Seraphim can get, and by now she has enough downstairs experience to watch herself. Besides, with just the two of us, it's easier to grab a bike and run off without trying to juggle bodies. Not that three's a bad number, either."

"So what happened to you?" Sharon asks, and takes a look around, but the streets are near empty on a weeknight here. We end up in a deserted park, Jack and Sharon taking a bench while I pace around them. "I mean, to your last vessel. It's still weird for me to wrap my head around you looking like--well. That. And, I mean. You're a guy, now!"

"Oh, right, I am, aren't I?" I push my hair back with one hand. Not quite as short a haircut as I'd like. "It was a pretty standard mess. Got in over my head, got jumped by large numbers, splat, so much for that vessel. Stupid of me."

"That's what happens when you run around on your own without any backup," Jack says. "Honestly, what are they doing sending you out alone?"

"I can take care of myself, Jack." I drop into a hand-stand, and go a few steps on my hands. Not nearly as fast as running, but I like to see the world from a different angle once in a while. This park needs more trees, and it doesn't have any seesaws, which is entirely wrong for a playground. Or if they're going to have one of those little dull parks of benches and cement paths and don't walk on the grass, they should put in a fountain so that there's still something moving. "You and Mannie, always acting like I'm going to keel over if you're not watching out for me every step of the way. You do remember I'm older than you, right?"

"Barely. And you've gone through how many vessels this last decade?"

"Two down, but who's counting? I did worse the first time Dad sent me down to Earth." Back when I was even more enthusiastic about combating evil, and less talented at it. "And this time it was a stupid mistake on my part that wouldn't have been helped by having anyone else around."

"If someone else had been around, maybe you wouldn't have made the mistake."

"And maybe I would have gotten them killed too. I'm used to working alone, Jack, or have you forgotten what I did? I'd see you maybe once a month, when you came by to pay the rent. Not consistent backup." I drop back to my feet, too restless to stay that slow. My palms feel strange from putting so much weight on them with a cement walkway beneath.

"At least I used to see you once in a while. And knew where to find you. These days I'm lucky to drag any sort of location out of those people you work for." I don't like the way he says "those people," as if I've fallen in with a bad crowd. "If they're going to send you running every which direction, they should send someone with you."

"Ofanite, Jack. Running every which direction is what I _do_." And then because I can see Sharon's starting to sit up straight and stare off at a point in the distance, I don't say a few other things that come to mind. "Look. I'm going to be okay. I have no intention of being so stupid again, and I have a brand new Ethereal Force grafted onto me to make sure of that, courtesy of the Boss. It's not like either of us came downstairs so that we could play it safe and stay out of trouble, right?"

"Not to stay out of trouble. But I didn't even know you were in Trauma, Kai." I wish I could make him happy again. I don't like seeing Jack, who always swept into my life with tales of some outrageous new scheme or cackling over the trail of angry people trying to catch up with him, looking so angry. I don't like that he's angry at me.

"You're not the easiest to person to get a message to, Jack." I stop in front of the bench, hands behind my back. "I'm sorry. I should have let you know. It didn't seem important enough to bother you about." And there's a touch of ease to his expression, enough to make me feel better. "Besides, they had me doing inventory for two months. You wouldn't _believe_ the kind of things Lightning has stuffed away in its storage closets."

"Bet it's nothing compared to what you can find trading hands between Windies on an average day over the Groves." Jack leans forward, elbows on his knees, to look up at me. "I don't trust them to take care of you, Kai. You may be working for them, but you're a Creationer, not a Sparky. Eli's kid, not Jean's."

"Jean's not going to leave me hanging just because I'm doing temp work." And it is temp work, just until my Dad gets back, though it's been enough decades now that I wonder how long his big project is going to take him. He could be back tomorrow, he could take another thousand years to finish it up; the Archangel who helped create the world won't find a few centuries too long to devote to project. Either way, it's not productive to dwell on the subject. Deal with the work that's been set in front of me.

"You sure? He's an Elohite. Manipulating people is what they do."

"Oh, stop it, you two." Sharon stands up. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to the both of you bitch at each other like this for no good reason."

"Hey," Jack says, and he stands up to put an arm around her shoulders. "It's nothing serious."

Sharon pulls away, and I'd run to hug her now if she didn't look so much in need of space. "Nothing serious. Right. That's what you said when Nip left. And that's what you said when you picked up _more_ dissonance. And when we didn't get to that Tether like we'd planned, so you could work it off? Nothing serious, you said. Fuck this." She kicks at a bottle cap lying on the path, and it goes clinking off into the evening. "Kai, talk some sense into him, would you? Because he's not listening to me." And she stalks away.

Jack's face turns terribly blank for a moment. "I should go--"

"Not yet." My hand on his wrist, or he'd be moving that direction already. "How much, Jack?

"What, you're part of Judgment now, to go asking after my spiritual health?" He pulls his wrist free, and I let him, I want to spin somewhere else entirely but. I will stay here until I get an answer. "Sign up with the Sparkies, lose your sense of humor."

"Dissonance. Isn't. Funny."

"And you call me on trying to watch out for you? I can deal with this."

"You can. So far as I hear, you're not." If I close my eyes, I can wish this problem away, but open them again and I still won't be looking at quite the same Jack I'm used to. "Why aren't you working them off?"

"What, spend a week pushing a mop around a dinky little Tether, while some Seneschal looks over my shoulder tut-tutting at my bad behavior? I'm chaos and mayhem and change, I don't do _chores_."

"You're also a Mercurian, but that doesn't seem to have stopped you from hitting people who aren't demons."

"You want me to stand back and watch them hurt people? Just let _Sharon_ get hurt because, oh, hey, that guy's a vampire! Not a demon, off-limits to me!" We've had our arguments before, but he's never used this tone of voice on me. "Sure, I could try that. I bet it would turn out well."

"So stick around with other angels who _can_ fight back! You don't get a 'he was really a _bad_ human' clause, Jack. It goes against what you are. If you and Sharon can't handle the situation, stick with someone who can, and don't get yourself into these problems in the first place."

"If you hadn't left me, I would have!"

I don't like it when Jack shouts at me. I don't know what to say. It's never happened before.

"When you were with us, we were _fine_ , Kai. And we could have kept on being fine and I'd be okay and this wouldn't be a problem, if you hadn't left."

I want to be anywhere else but here. But I have...responsibilities. To my Dad, to my Boss, and to my friends. "How much, Jack."

"It's none of your business."

"How. Much."

Jack throws his hands up in the air, and turns away from me. "And why do you want to know? So you can run off and tell your friends in Judgment? If you don't want to help me, I can take care of this without anyone else asking questions and--"

"Jack, you bastard." That actually stops him, his back to me. "I've been your friend since you had three Forces and the attention span of a goldfish. Stop trying to lay the blame on me, and tell me how dissonant you are." I have a hundred loyalties and priorities to arrange, responsibilities from the tiny grace notes of _Don't be needlessly unkind to strangers_ all the way up to the perfect chords of serving the Archangel who made my Heart. I can sort them by importance, and find Jack near the top. "I swear. I will not tell Judgment."

"Or Lightning?"

"I'm not about to lie to my Boss if he asks. But that's unlikely." One hand on his shoulder, and I wish he wouldn't face away from me like this. "Come on, Jack. So that I can know how much to not worry about this problem you can take care of yourself."

"Four." He takes a quick breath. "Four times that I've screwed up. Sharon doesn't know it's that many."

"Oh, God." Dissonance is never a good thing, but one note, maybe two, you're still safe. Doing something wrong, but safe. Four notes means you're a hop, skip, and a jump away from becoming formally Outcast, dull-surfaced Heart and all.

Or even Falling.

"I'll take care of it."

"Four! Why haven't you squashed it into Discord?" His head must be buzzing with it, it's a wonder if he can resonate anyone at all with that many notes.

"Because if it's Discord, I can't get rid of it myself."

"You're not getting rid of it now." I stomp around him to get direct eye contact. "Jack. Go to a Tether. Find a mobile Tether if you can't bear to stay in one place for so long, but _find_ one, and work it off. If you can't handle a month of working on it, do two weeks now, go raise mayhem for a while, another two weeks, and get it gone."

"Okay." The agreement comes as a shock, but I'm so turned around and confused tonight everything's coming as a shock. I can't tell if he's lying, and Jack doesn't lie to me about anything serious, but then, Jack doesn't pick up four notes of dissonance, either. Not ever before. "I'll go do two weeks somewhere."

"Thanks. And please, try to grab another angel for your mayhem. If Nip's still annoyed at you, grab Kelly, or that Cherub you used to run around with."

"Which Cherub?"

Such a relief to be talking normally again. "You know. The one who'd always run into my bedroom with her attuned when you stopped by, and lock the door behind her--"

"Oh, right, her. Last I heard she was down in Mexico, but maybe she could use a change of pace. And maybe Sharon wouldn't half mind having another human around, whoever it is that the attuned is these days." Jack looks over to where Sharon's sitting, playing with some cell phone on a bench halfway across the park. Probably close enough for her to hear some of the conversation. "Tell me one thing, though. Why Lightning? You'd never had any more ties to it than any other Word, until these last few years. Spent more time rampaging through the countryside with us than you did on any job with them. You should be able to _appreciate_ having an Ofanite for your Superior. Why not Janus? I'd thought you'd run to the Wind before anyone else."

"I got an offer." He looks back to me now, a moment of confusion, so I try to explain. "I mean, I'm sure I could have worked for Janus if I'd asked," and I'm not going to try to detail why the Wind isn't exactly an ideal Word for me, "but Jean _offered_. And. I know he'll be there."

"He took advantage of you, Kai."

"Maybe he did. So what? If I need to talk to him, I can make an appointment, and count on him showing up once I have one. I like having assignments. I like knowing that if something happens to me, people will notice I'm missing and come looking."

"You like having your Lilim around."

"Bright Lilim, and if you want to get detailed about that, remember that you're the one who introduced us." A few years ago or half a lifetime, when Jack grinned at me and pointed out the Renegade demon huddled in the back seat. "Besides," I say, and I poke him in the chest, "there's nothing wrong with wanting to catch up with my friends once in a while. Even if _some_ of them are blasted hard to track down."

"I'll try to be easier to find." Jack gives me an unexpected hug, tighter than usual. "So. I'll be fine. You'll be fine. And at some point between projects we can get together and cause some creative chaos. Sound like a plan?"

"It does."

We catch up with Sharon, and things are...good. Not quite the same as they were before, but it wouldn't be appropriate for the Wind if that were the case. People change, jobs change, and if they have work to do turning people's lives upside-down, I have work to do turning Vapulan labs inside out. Makes up for the argument, to spend a few hours with them before they speed away into the night in a car that probably isn't the one they arrived in.

When I get back to my motel to catch a few late-night movies and pretend to get some sleep, I reach for my phone, and find it missing.

I hope they remembered to put a tracking chip in my phone too. If nothing else, it's one way to find Jack.


	5. An Intermission With Technology

Aglaya waited in the other room, watching the door for any signs of people come to investigate the noise, and generally avoiding the mess. When muffled screams had faded into whimpering, she returned to the bedroom. "Time's up," she said to the two men. "Go watch the door."

They exchanged glances, and she saw in them the question of how far they had to follow her orders. She was the master of neither, and as far as they were concerned, weaker than the demon they served. "We're not done," said the one--she'd never bothered to learn their names--with the knife in his hand, blood all across his shirt and face. "Why don't you--"

"Don't push me, little human," she said, and took the man's wrist, snapped it in one quick motion. She'd wished to avoid the disturbance, but had no patience for these games. "Now. Are the two of you competent enough to watch a door for a few minutes, or should I be telling your master that you can't be torn away from your games to do even that?"

They left the room quickly, and Aglaya filed away the murderous look of the one for future consideration.

"Now," she said, once the door was closed, and she crouched down in front of the young woman curled up in the corner. "They're gone, and we can talk privately."

"I won't tell you anything," whispered the girl. Trembling as she said it.

"Oh, and you do believe that, don't you." Aglaya brushed blood-wet hair out of the girl's face. "Poor little angel. Can't run, can't fight them off. Lightning ought to remember to invest more in Corporeal Forces." Or at least teach its new angels a bit more about fighting off demonic resonances, Aglaya reflected. The charm-and-drain had been pathetically easy once they'd identified the girl.

"The Boss will send people to come find me. To stop you."

"Dear child, I'm not worried about that." Aglaya stood up, and found a blanket to spread out on the floor, sat on that to save her clothing from bloodstains. "The question is, how long will this take? And by the time they arrive, will they have any idea where to look?" The angel wouldn't meet her eyes. "You turned in your weekly report this morning. They're not going to notice for a week. Do you have any idea how far we could take you in a week? What could happen to you in that space of time?"

The shudder was answer enough. Aglaya smoothed her face into gentle sympathy, ignored how very easy it was to show this. "Lily, dear, fledging Seraph was a poor decision. They should know better than to send Seraphim off alone with no minders. It could be worse, though. You could have been Mercurian." And, hand on the girl's shoulder, she pushed her charm in.

Now that gaze turned back to her, more bewildered than terrified. "Why did you let them do that to me?"

"I had to, Lily. Do you think I'm free to make all my own choices? To tell everyone else what I believe they should do, and have them listen?"

After a moment, the Seraph shook her head.

"But I can still help you." Aglaya leaned forward. "Listen to me carefully, because we don't have much time. If I leave you here like this, they'll take you away and they will break you. It may take time, but they'll break you down. Right now, you haven't told any lies, you haven't let us take anything important. You're still clean. And if I kill this vessel, you'll go through Trauma, but you'll be clean. No danger of Falling."

"I don't want to Fall."

"Most people don't, Lily." Aglaya allowed herself a sad smile. "You've held up very well. Now, I can get you out of this, but you have to give me some information. Nothing very big. Just a little scrap of something, so that they won't be angry at me for sending you away."

And the angel would have indignantly told her to take her offers elsewhere, but for those few minutes the Seraph knew this Impudite was her dear and trusted friend, who was trying as hard as possible to help. "What do you need to know?"

"You have a good, deep Role, Lily. You might even be able to pick it up again when you come back, if someone's careful, and notices right away that you're back at your Heart. Those sorts of Roles come from someone putting a lot of time into them, all the way back from childhood, and it would be...inefficient, to do only one at a time." Aglaya put one hand beneath the angel's chin, no matter that it coated her fingers in blood. "Tell me about your siblings, dear."

After a few more minutes Aglaya returned to the other room. "Let's go."

"What about the snake?" One of the Hellsworn opened the door to look, and scowled. "We were _supposed_ to take her alive."

"Plans change. I've acquired information I wouldn't have been able to otherwise."

"Are you at least going to fix what the bitch did to me?" asked the one who had known better than to challenge her earlier. Half his face a pulpy mess from where the Seraph had gotten in one good swing with her fist.

"What, waste Essence and cause more disturbance, for you? You'll live."

Aglaya returned the Hellsworn to their master, made sweet excuses for not bringing the angel, and then left again before anyone could think to ask deeper questions. She took a cab to the next place on her agenda, tipped the driver well, and didn't bother to charm away his Essence. The Seraph's reserves had left her nearly full.

On the top floor, she knocked once on the door, and waited in plain view of the peephole. After a moment, the door swung open, and a young woman pulled her in by one hand. "I was wondering if you were planning on showing up this month. Where have you been lately?"

"Here and there." Aglaya settled down in one of the beanbags on the floor, while her host collapsed in another. "Had to deal with something related to the last time I lost a vessel."

"That botched raid Hari did? Oh, I remember hearing about that." The Lilim tched, and scratched a big yellow dog behind its ears. "That bastard would drag everyone else into his stupid games. Like the rest of us give a rat's ass if some Renegade Sister wants to play nice with the fluffwings."

The dog barked. "Oh, Goldie doesn't like fluffwings, does he?" The Lilim turned to pet the dog, leaning in close. "Goldie's going to be an Impudite when he grows up, isn't he? Yes he _is_. What a good dog."

"That's disgusting, Yoshiko."

"What, no love for Goldie?" The Lilim stood up, and grinned. "I assume you're here for business reasons, and not just to catch up with old friends. Want tea? It's complimentary, whether or not we make a deal."

"Certainly. No sugar."

Yoshiko returned from the kitchen with two hot mugs. She handed the one advertising the Linux World Expo to Aglaya, and kept the one decorated with Bleach characters for herself. "So. What can I do for you today?"

"I have a full name, age, mother's maiden name. Can you find information on recent credit card purchases for me?"

"Mm. Within the United States?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Well. You might get a few duplicate records, depending on how common the name is, but I can try." The Lilim took a sip of tea, and considered. "A day-Geas, no promises on what I'll be able to come up with. Fair deal?"

"Fair enough." Aglaya scribbled out the information on a piece of paper, and passed it over. She'd already eliminated the other three siblings as too young or permanently located to be useful.

The Lilim set to tapping away at her laptop, between sips of tea. "To be honest, I'd do this for free, if it weren't for the principle of the thing. Nothing quite as much fun as digging out information I'm not supposed to be able to get to. What do you need this for?"

"Tracking down an angel," Aglaya said. She smiled. "I could go into more detail. But it would cost you."

"Ha! You always were a quick learner. No, I'm curious, but not _that_ curious. Any particular angel, or whichever one you might be able to dig up?"

"A little of each." Aglaya set the mug aside discreetly; she couldn't stand chamomile. "There are a few in particular I'd like to find, but if this isn't one of them, well, maybe this one can lead me to the people I want."

"Now you're just trying to make me curious." Yoshiko set the laptop on the floor. "Okay, that's going to be searching for a while yet. I need to dig up the funds to have a proper T3 line installed here, would you believe I'm still on cable?"

"Truly, a deplorable state of affairs."

"Brat." Yoshiko leaned over to give Aglaya a quick kiss. "I worry about you, kid. Don't know why you had to run off and work on Hari's doomed project anyway. I thought you hated that bastard. Not that there's anyone who _doesn't_ , but more so than most of us."

"I didn't have much choice in the matter."

"Because he forced you into it, or because you needed to be there to see it when he finally fell into the hole he'd dug for himself?" Yoshiko sighed. "Oh, don't look at me like that. Your personal business, fine. But next time you feel compelled to watch an enemy go down in flames, try to do it from a safer distance."

"I'll do that."

"No, you won't." The Lilim stood up, picked up both their mugs. "That's your problem, you take everything so personally. There's nothing wrong with wanting to smack someone down for betraying you, it'll teach the rest you're not to be messed with lightly, but sometimes? You have to let it go." She returned with another cup of tea for herself, and Aglaya's mug filled with juice. "Trust me, it'll make your life that much easier."

They sat in companionable silence for several minutes, listening to Yoshiko's stereo system play video game soundtracks. The laptop chimed.

"Here we go." Yoshiko turned the screen so that Aglaya could see. "Looks like you only have two people to choose from, once all those factors were added in. Which one looks like yours?"

The Impudite sorted through the first set of credit card purchases. Fast food, various clothing stores, cash advance, plane tickets, drugstore. Unlikely. She switched to the other set. A two week gap with no purchases, and then...coffee shop. Coffee shop. Restaurant. Coffee shop. "This might be the one I'm looking for. Can you get locations for these places?"

"Of course." Yoshiko pulled the computer back, and tapped through a few searches. The printer beside the stereo whirred to life. "Are you really running off after some possible angel? By yourself?"

"I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, sure." The Lilim leaned over to prod at the dog. "Goldie, sweetie, go sit in the bedroom for a few minutes, okay? We need to talk." Once it had sulked off and nosed the door shut, she turned back to Aglaya. "What game are you playing, Amy? One Impudite does not make angel-hunting material."

"It's something of a long-term project." She tilted her gaze away, and wished she'd worn sunglasses to hide her eyes, for all that the Lilim would have been offended. "If you want me to go into details--"

"I'd have to pay, right, but it's not details I'm worried about." Yoshiko put one hand to Aglaya's face, turned her back around to face her. "It's you. How many hooks does Mannie have on you? I swear by my Mother, I won't pass on the information."

"Several." Aglaya allowed herself a strained smile. "I'd thought I was clean, but I ran into him in the midst Hari's disaster, and found out otherwise. And one actual Geas, to get me out of there with only a vessel lost and nothing worse. I have enough Geases from you that they didn't think anything to see that one."

"Oh, kid. That's serious trouble." Yoshiko set the laptop aside, and put both hands on Aglaya's shoulders. "What are you doing about this? Don't get any wild ideas about tracking him down and fixing it yourself, it won't _work_. He's dangerous, and half past mad if he's working for angels now."

"I have a plan," Aglaya said. "And, no, I don't intend to run into Mannie directly. The last time I saw him I lost a vessel. I'm not _stupid_ , Yoshi. But I think I can work out enough leverage to keep me a bit...safer. Maybe even get myself a favor." She was careful not specify whose favor.

"If you're intent like this, I won't be able to talk you out of it. But if you need help, call me. You have my number, and I'll cut you a real bargain, okay?"

"I'll remember. Any time I'm in trouble, I know who to call." Aglaya laughed shortly, and leaned back against the wall. "At this rate you're going to end up owning me for life. And then what would you do with an Impudite following you around?"

"I'm sure I could come up with something," Yoshiko said.


	6. In Which I Am Busy

We've reached the stage in the project when the full scope of all the information we don't have available has become clear; this is the point where Teresa starts shouting in the corridors, and I lock my door. Nosha, remains its unflappable self, and apparently Gariel has learned to channel his internal Elohite because the most distressed communication I've received from him so far was a gentle reminder about our deadline. Which, despite the faulty data, we would still be on target to meet if the research group hadn't sent us the information three weeks late.

Maharang dashes through the reliever flap to drop another stack of folders on my desk. "Sincere apologies from Tuthiel, who says a new virus-prevention program he was testing ate his hard drive, but they got some printouts before everything went up in flames. Coffee?"

"Please." I sort out the folders into categories across the face of my desk. At this rate I'm going to need to use the floor to keep things in order. "Would you mind reminding me of the Pax Dei?"

"No killing other Sparkies!" Maharang shakes a finger indignantly at me. "No matter how late or incomplete the data they send."

"Right. Thank you." I turn back to my computer, which I've taken to using out of sheer desperation. It can run through the calculations faster than I can manually, and then I only need to review its results for obvious stupidities.

A brisk rap on the door. "Go away. I'm busy." And the people who can override my current tasks wouldn't need to knock first. Most of them would send email, and right now I already have four red-marked messages about various details of the project that I don't have _time_ to deal with right now, and which must wait until I've finished with my current task. Tasks. Gigantic mess of near-epic proportions. Nosha tells me that I haven't been here long enough to see one of the truly epic time-crunches, which, considering the sorts of panics we've been through, nearly frightens me. At least no one will be disassembled if we miss our deadline. Better than Hell.

Even stacked cross-wise, the folders have overtaken my desk. I move my computer to the chair, gain enough room for two more stacks, and then give up. Time to start laying these out on the floor. Once I've done the preliminary sort I can call in relievers to search for the relevant data, and escape to one of the lounges with a cup of coffee and a notebook to work out adjustments based on this overview. I can tell already we need to redesign the power supply from the ground up, and that's before looking into the actual function.

"Excuse me," says a voice from behind me, and I nearly drop a folder across the floor. "I went ahead and picked the lock."

I've learned not to twitch when Malakim appear behind me, if only because the ones I work with kept getting apologetic and concerned, and the Judges would become suspicious at the reaction. This does not mean I'm comfortable with the occurrence. I turn around, and put on my best "I am _so_ busy right now" expression.

Of course, it would be Kelly, who seems to like me about as much as I like inefficient wiring systems. "I'm in the middle of a project," I say, in the faint hope that she'll listen.

"Right, whatever." She looks for a place to sit down, and glares at the computer on the chair. "This place is such a mess."

"Project. In the middle of. What, do you go selectively deaf the minute you get within earshot of me?" I move over to one of the stacks on the floor, and shove a black-feathered wing out of my way. "Try not to step in anything, if you insist on taking up floor space."

"I'm trying to find Jack."

"Good luck. I'm told Windies are difficult to track down. You might have heard." I set another folder on the floor, and backtrack to my desk around the piles. I'm getting dreadful flashbacks to the time I inherited a position and office from a Djinn who'd saved absolutely everything delivered to her office, and never bothered to sort any of it out. I had to set an Impudite to sorting through the piles for a week straight to unearth the floor. "Why would I know where he is?" The Mercurian was frosty every time we met since Kai took up service to Lightning, and it's been months.

"You always know where Kai is. Jack's sentimental enough to go running after that batty Ofanite himself." She steps on a pile of papers as she moves forward, and frowns. "Couldn't you _file_ these or something?"

"Out of the office." I am quickly losing what little patience I have left. "I do not have _time_ for this. Go hunt down your bloody Mercurian yourself."

"I _can't_." Kelly slams the office door closed. "The Seraph he was taking on an Earth tour to get experience says he's dissonant, and he disappeared after she called him on it. She can't find him, I can't find him, nobody knows where he's hidden his Heart, and this is the best lead I have of finding him before he goes and does something _stupid_."

"More stupid than getting dissonant and then running away when this is pointed out?" 

For once, she doesn't glare at me, but only shrugs. "I didn't think he'd go this dumb on us. Jack's pretty reliable, in his own way. But at this point, it's either find him ourselves, or go tell Judgment he needs to be hauled in. If you can help me, great. If not, so be it."

I don't think she's quite as comfortable with the second option as she claims. "Gariel is Kai's supervisor. Ask him if you can get an address, or a line to call. But try to do it quickly. We're busy."

"Okay. Thanks." She opens the door, and pauses. "Incidentally. You're not quite the cowardly jerk you used to be. For what it's worth."

Before I can formulate a reply to that, she's gone, and I have other things to worry about. A thousand and one files left to deal with, but at least they've been sorted well enough to let the relievers at them.

Maharang dashes back in. "Hey, they managed to get more data off the hard drive, but they can't hook it up to anything else because the virus-eater is trying to eat anything it's connected to, so they got a lot more printouts for you!" And another two dozen folders land on my desk. "I'll get your coffee next, if no one else catches me on the way there."

This is going to be a long day.


	7. In Which A Demon Speaks With My Ofanite

Late nights are half past dead boring with all the television stations playing infomercials, and no phone to call anyone with. Not that it'd be a good time to call Mannie in the middle of a project, but it would be nice to have the option. Staff switches at six in the morning, so I can head into my room at three in the morning, out at six, and let each shift think what they want of my sleeping habits. Besides, I've heard there are humans out there who can get by on hardly any sleep at all. No reason my Role can't cover that, right?

The woman who holds down the front desk in the morning spends most of her time staring at the computer while her crochet hook or knitting needles go flying. I asked her once what she reading all the time, and she mumbled something about handspun yarn websites. I'm not sure how much time one can spend looking at pictures of yarn; I'll have to ask another Creationer who knows more about that type of art.

She doesn't wear a nametag, so I've never gotten her name, but she can pull up all the information about my stay on the computer. "Morning, Kyle."

"Morning." I hit the coffee in the tiny pseudo-dining room the motel has for its complimentary continental breakfast, which translates to a machine dispensing fake juice, a basket of sugar-dripping pastries, and a pot of coffee. The coffee isn't good, but I can use it as an excuse to not touch any of those hideous faux-food...things. One shouldn't be reduced to eating prepared food where the date the item was made can't be pinned down. "What are you making today?"

"A snood."

"That's not even a real word, is it?" I grab her cup to get her a refill, complete with the three packets of sugar she prefers.

"No, it's a...thing." She holds up her current project, which looks like several rows of yarn that could be intended for anything from a coaster to a sweater. "Like a loose net hat. To keep your hair up."

"Isn't it easier to just cut your hair short in the first place?" I deposit the cup in front of her. "If anyone calls, I ought to be back around lunch to check for messages."

"You know, we're a motel, not an answering service." She drops the yarn to take a quick drink. "Someone on the night shift is putting dead rats in the coffee maker, I just know it. Coffee this bad cannot possibly come about by accident."

I consider the number of coffee machines I've managed to destroy over the years, through sheer inattention and accident. "You'd be surprised. And, hey, if it's a problem to take messages--"

"No, I don't mind. Not like there's anything more interesting to do. Did you ever get a repair estimate on your phone?"

"Six to eight weeks, and they'll be shipping it to my billing address, so I'll have to go back there if I want to pick it up." No phone means careful use of my piccolo a ways outside the city in case there are any demons listening for disturbance, and more time spent sitting in front of library computers than I'd like. No matter how secure Lightning can make its corporeal email services, there's only so much that can be done about my using a public terminal with who knows what kind of keyloggers installed, and that means lots of vague, roundabout email conversations.

"Sucks to be you." She picks up her knitting again. "Where do you plan on shooting today?"

"City streets. See if I can get some good shots to illustrate the way pedestrian traffic changes through the day." As soon as I started taking pictures people wanted to know why, and once I said it was for a book they wanted to know about what, and by now I've compiled a response for anyone who asks. A whole book on the theme of change, the way photography captures an instant while everything is a process, and a lot of other babble I've picked up from the more literary Creationers I've known. I'm becoming fond of this art form, though it's still nothing on dance. The idea of freezing movement into a single static moment, well, it might not be a very Ofanite hobby, but I like it.

Besides, I can always start gushing at people about shutter speeds. Now there's a bit of photography no one told me about before. Who would have guessed you can make such a difference in a picture by the simple matter of how soon and how fast you close the shutter? I bet there are Ofanim of Lightning who put time into working out just how fast they can do both.

This time in the morning, the city is still waking, but hasn't reached the point where it begins to throw its weight around. I can walk down the street without needing to watch out for anything more than early morning joggers, and most of the shops have a single light on as a lone worker inside prepares for the day.

The investigation has been going slowly, painfully slowly, little half-snippets of information wandering into view and then lying down to take a nap as soon as I try to interrogate them. There are all of three places in this city that could be the Vapulan lab I'm looking for in any obvious way, but I'm not getting anywhere with any of the three. For all I know, Technology has decided to put its local research facility in the basement of an elementary school; it wouldn't be any weirder than Lightning having a prototype-building lab beneath an old farmhouse.

I wish Jack were still around. I could use some help on breaking and entering. But he ought to be at a Tether working off some of that dissonance. Probably not without another stop on the way before getting there, just to prove that it's his choice and not because of what anyone else is telling him to do, but he should be there by now. Sharon knows he's supposed to be getting to a Tether, and he'd listen to her. Can't believe Nip would up and leave him when he was getting into trouble; I'm going to ask her about that, the next time we run into each other.

One of the beautiful things about coffee shops is that they expect people to want caffeine first thing in the morning, so my favorite one is open by seven. They already know my name, my favorite drinks, and what time I'm going to show up. The minimum on credit card orders means I get an assortment of pastries with my coffee, and then it's time for my usual spot in a half-hidden corner with my notebook to try to work out what I ought to do today.

I like routines. Wouldn't want to be stuck forever doing one thing, but I like circuits, paths, coming back around to the same place again and again. Always moving without losing that sort of familiarity. The ballet is no less beautiful for having performed the same piece a dozen times. So sitting here with my notebook scratching out theories in the shorthand Mannie insisted I learn isn't boring, it's part of the pattern. A stop along the way, like refueling for the next part of the trip.

For once, they didn't give me any deadline for this project. Which means I get to keep on investigating however long it takes to either find what I'm looking for, or say it's not here. In theory, that means I can take as much time as I need. In practice, it means I'm getting frustrated with the lack of progress. Maybe I ought to track down another angel in the city; I'm quickly running out of ideas that don't involve trying to remember how to bypass burglar alarms. There's always a chance that an angel who's been here longer would have identified a demon or two, and that would give me something to work with.

It's perhaps wrong of me to hope that there's actually a lab to toast somewhere in this city, as in general no Vapulans is better than Vapulans, no matter what I consider a fun evening's activity. But I'd like to get a chance to exercise a little creative violence, if only to help me get over that last embarrassing defeat.

The pleasant buzz of voices grows in volume as more people pour into the shop and I work my way through pastries, coffee, and notes for the day. It's time to start pressing harder at the best lead I have, the big property outside the city. I ought to find out how far around the walls go, and if there's any area in the back where only low fences keep out trespassers. I can arrange for a branch to fall down and take out a section of fence, and come up with a plausible gap for me to accidentally wander through. No word back on any of the rolls of film I mailed out for the Sparkies to develop and check for Discord signs, and I'm itching to go start shooting patients and staff alike.

This bit of the store, half-hidden by a newspaper rack, only holds two chairs across from a little table, and usually I'm the only one back here. Today someone else heads to the back, takes a seat opposite me. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"No, go ahead. I was about to head out anyway." I snap my notebook closed, look up--

"Shh," says the demon, with a sweet smile and bright eyes. "We're in a public place."

"We could change that. Want to?" She's stylish in the way Impudites are, dressed like a college student who prefers indie bands to frat parties, and she wears black star sapphire earrings. Pretty face, ragged black T-shirt, spiky-cut hair. A Mercurian of Creation should look so good. I'd be more than happy to rip her throat out, but the people behind the counter in here would be traumatized. More's the pity this nook isn't a touch _more_ private.

"Walk off to some dark alley where a girl like me could get hurt?" She smirks, and sets a cup down on the table. "Let's talk."

"Why?" I haven't forgotten what she did the last time we were in the same city. Or that I was stupid enough to believe she was an angel just because she dropped the right names, smiled at me, and did me a small favor. "I can think of a lot of things I'd rather do with you than talk."

"You and me both." I don't understand the look she gives me. "But we're in public, so. Talking. And maybe a rain check for...other things?"

"Why should I want to talk to you about anything? Or are you forgetting the part where you nearly got Mannie killed?"

"You're still holding a grudge about that?" She laughs at me, and drinks her mocha. Pauses to wipe whipped cream off her nose, and then lick it off one finger. "I also got him _out_ of that situation, or have you forgotten?"

"That's not much of a virtue when you dragged him into it in the first place."

"Mm. Let's look at how this adds up, Kai. You are Kai, aren't you? After all, you did recognize me, and there's a limited set who would do so, fewer still who recently found themselves in need of a new vessel." She draws with one finger on the glass of the table. "Because of me, you were able to take out several demons, defuse a potential threat to a new Tether, and remove Hari, who is, if I may say so, not the safest Habbalite to have as an enemy, from being any sort of immediate threat. In exchange you...took a little property damage? A few Malakim lost vessels in the raid? Oh, and poor fragile Mannie got a chance to shout back at am old enemy. Somehow, I'm not seeing myself as the villain."

It makes perfect sense when she puts it that way. I don't trust it for an instant. "So you did us a few incidental favors while pursuing your own goals. Doesn't change the fact that you were playing us all for your own purposes. You think this means I should listen?"

"No. Probably not." She shrugs easily. "I am what I am. But if you're wondering if I'm worth listening to, tell me this much. How many of the names on that list worked for you? And of the ones that didn't, how many still let you take out an enemy outpost?" Her dreamy gaze worries me; I'm not used to demons looking _obviously_ insane. "There's been a lot of screaming. No one's put the pieces together yet."

"And what will happen to you when they do?"

"What, do I hear a trace of concern for me?"

Judgment is going to be annoyed at me again, for talking so long with a demon. "It is my wish that every demon be redeemed. But I don't spend my compassion on those who don't need it."

"You really mean that, don't you." Aglaya leans back in her chair, legs crossed. She couldn't possibly run in time if I--public place. I am in a public place. My supervisor would have my _head_ if I destroyed a perfectly good Role over an Impudite, especially one posing no immediate threat. No matter how many things I can think of doing to her with the empty coffee cup in front of me. "Tell me, though. How many?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"I gave you the list." She's lost her smile, and it's some trace of satisfaction that she's not impenetrably smug. "Every name on there, I identified, I pointed you in the right direction. You owe me that much."

It's not like Technology wouldn't be well aware of which demons shattered their Hearts in the last few years, Renegade or redeemed. "Two Elohim. One Seraph. One Kyriotate. And a Cherub who wasn't on the list at all."

"So many." The Impudite gets that dreamy look again, as if she's pleased to hear about redemptions. This makes no sense. She's a demon, proved herself as conniving and traitorous as any other, flat out turned down a request to come back to Lightning, but she's pleased to hear other demons have redeemed. Is she trying to cut down on the inter-office competition or something?

"Not all of them." Some wouldn't budge, weren't interested, tried to convince me to join them, as if I'd forgotten Vapula has no interest in Calabim. Others were too frightened, too reluctant to leave their work, too enamored of their Demon Prince. One who disappeared, and I still don't know if she ran to tell, got pulled back home, encountered a Malakite in a dark alley. Not nearly a high enough percentage, and this was the list of good candidates, demons worth investing time in.

If I weren't such an optimist, it could make me cry.

"More than I expected. Do you think it's easy, to make a choice that changes your entire nature? To leave behind everything you've ever known, and throw yourself at the mercy of the enemy?"

"I don't know, Aglaya. Is it?"

She closes her eyes, for a moment. "My dear sweet Ofanite, may you never find out."

I don't know what to say to that, so I turn my coffee cup around and around. "You wanted to talk. Go ahead. Talk."

"Thank you for being reasonable. I could have charmed you into listening, but that's a bit unreliable, isn't it? And not very polite." She pulls out a folded set of papers. "Another present for you. I can almost regret not being a Lilim."

I take the papers and unfold them. What looks to be a staff list, or at least a lot of people with Dr. in front of their names, with neat red checkmarks here and there on the list. The second sheet of paper is a layout of some facility, again with red checks on various rooms. The third sheet of paper is covered in what looks like what would happen if angelic script ran away from home, got drunk, and crawled back in at three in the morning with a misspelled tattoo and a new drug habit. "I can't read this one."

"Ah, of course not." She takes that sheet of paper back. "No matter; I was saving those details in case this Role turned out to belong to someone else."

"How did you track me down?" Because I'm sure that's one thing I'll get asked about when I make my report.

"I didn't pass on the information to anyone else, if that's what you're asking. Nor is it likely anyone else will find out in the same way." Aglaya finishes off the last of her drink. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. Once I'd discovered your location, it took time to find relevant local information to give you."

"Why?"

"Because my coworkers are not, shall we say, paragons of trust and good will. Getting even basic information takes time, especially when I need to do it discreetly."

"That much I could have figured out. Why are you giving this to me?"

"A saying comes to mind about looking a gift horse in the mouth."

"I don't trust you, Aglaya." Her expression is charming, and not about to budge. I sigh. "Come on, at least give me a plausible excuse to put in the report as 'This is what she lied to me about.' I'm no Seraph to read your real intentions."

"There's something adorable in how you consider that to be striking a hard bargain, Kai. Very well, I'll think of a story." She crosses her arms, smirks at me. "Do you insist on it being a _plausible_ story?"

"Forget this." I stand up, collect both our empty cups. "Thanks for the help, no thanks for being a manipulative back-stabbing demon, and if you get killed see about having a memo sent out so that I can stop wondering, okay?" I leave the cups in one of the trays for dirty dishes, and head back to the counter for a fresh cup of coffee to go.

"Cute chick," says the kid who takes my order, peering over at Aglaya. "Your girlfriend?"

"Thank God, no."

He chuckles as he pours my coffee. "Got history with her, huh?"

Well, she used to work for my Boss back before I was alive and certainly before he was my Boss, but she Fell, joined the enemy, now works for a complete lunatic who thinks he's an Archangel, spent a lot of time working with the angel who's my best friend but happened to be a demon back then, and now she's playing double agent for no good reason that I can determine.

There is no way to translate this into mundane terms. I finally settle for, "She's my boyfriend's ex."

"Huh." He hands over my coffee, and gives me one of those odd human looks that says I've violated a minor social taboo I don't understand. "That has to be awkward. Hey, do you know if she's seeing anyone right now?"

"Trust me. You don't want to get involved." And as she sits there at the table, staring wistfully into the distance, I know what he sees. Someone in need of protection, strong-minded but willing to listen, a dreamer who can appreciate his big plans for the future. Nothing I say to change his mind will give him half a chance if she feels like charming him and draining out his Essence. He won't even know it's happened. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Sure thing." He's still watching her when I leave.

This is one of those moments when I'm more than annoyed at Jack for running off with my phone. I'd like to get a detailed set of instructions from my supervisor about what I ought to do in these circumstances, and possibly a chance to shout about how frustrating this whole situation is. However, the Celestial Song of Tongues has a message limit, so I spend the drive over to an area outside of the city composing and rearranging the message in my head until I can pass on as much necessary information as possible in a single use of the Song. The piccolo is a darling artifact, but not knowing that Song myself, I usually need to drop an extra note or two of Essence into it to make sure the message arrives.

The place I stop was once an orchard, though it's entirely overgrown now. The trees have lost most of their leaves, and the undergrowth has gone brown and gray to prepare for winter. I leave my bike next to the fence, classic wood posts, and walk along the rails. I could do handsprings down the line with my eyes closed, but I'm not much in the mood for indulging.

_Aglaya here. Offered information on local Vapulan projects. Can't determine motivation. Current leads uncertain. Instructions?_

A few minutes for Gariel to consider a response, grab someone with Celestial Tongues, and send back another message. I appreciate the supernatural aspects of this piccolo, but I appreciate more that it's a good instrument. Flight of the Bumblebee it is.

I like the piccolo for a number of things. That it's a convenient weapon for both beating people over the head or stabbing them as needed, that it's easy to carry around, and that I can play things so quickly on it. I run through my favorite piece three and a half times before getting an answer.

_Understood. Accept the information. Proceed with caution._

"Proceed with caution" is slightly below "Use your best judgment" in the list of instructions I'd rather not receive from a supervisor. Isn't the whole point of having an organizational hierarchy that my supervisor can tell me what to do when I'm not sure? I understand Gariel tends towards the succinct, but...okay. I can work with this. If they wanted me to ignore her or take her out, I would have been told. So I can use the information, with luck never see her again, and keep an eye out for traps. Simple. Straightforward. Full of gaping holes where a thousand and one things could go wrong.

The day hasn't even reached late morning yet. I could head back to the city to wander the streets taking pictures, but what's the point? I need some place to go, someone to talk to. And an hour or so of internet access to see where these names I've been given belong, so that I can at least follow the implied "...and do something about it" that follows on the orders to accept this.

I tuck away the piccolo again and cartwheel across the fence posts. One way to spin in a corporeal body, let the world fly around me until it starts making sense again. But when I stop, my head hasn't more than half cleared. Maybe it's the new Force that's throwing off my perceptions, offering me all the possible avenues for success and failure that I never would have noticed before. If so, I need to get used to it and deal, because nobody's going to be standing around waiting for me to figure things out. The Earth keeps spinning, Heaven and Hell are moving, and I _will_ keep up with this assignment. If I'm taking a risk by using demon-granted information, so be it. Didn't get where I am now by playing it safe.

My bike's in hand when a car slows to a halt just in front of me, rumbling off the road to the gap between pavement and fence. Dusty black hatchback, more than ten years old but looking to have good brakes. "So," says Aglaya, with a cheery wave, "what did your Boss say?"

The universe is mocking me today.

She strolls in my direction, hands in her jacket pockets. "Cold out, isn't it? I prefer to stay further south. At least humanity has finally discovered central heating."

"What are you doing here?"

She stops in front of me, smiles up at me. I'm taller than her now, weird thought. Not used to being taller than any adults. "Promised you a rain check, didn't I? So here we are. Not quite the middle of nowhere, nor is it the traditional dark back alley, but traffic's light enough that there wouldn't be many witnesses." The demon perches on top of the fence. "Want to give it a shot?"

"Don't tempt me."

"I'm a demon. I'm _supposed_ to tempt people. It's in the job description." She slides on a pair of sunglasses. "But I think they told you not to kill me, or I'd already have some creative object embedded in my spleen. I'm not sure what my spleen does, as biology isn't my specialty, and vessels work differently from human bodies anyway. But I imagine it would be unpleasant."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to dispose of a body in an inconspicuous manner?" I'd pace to work off some of the nervous tension I'm building up, but that would leave my back to her, so I lean against the fence and settle for glaring.

"In woods like these? You could drop a body back there and no one would discover it for weeks. Months, even, and once the snow starts falling, maybe not ever. The wild has its own way of taking care of evidence." She tilts her head up to look at the sky. "Do you know, when I first came to Earth, it was snowing. I'd never seen snow before. The coldest I'd ever felt in my life."

"Did you have a point, or are you following me around for the sheer joy of getting on my nerves?"

Her face is near unreadable behind the sunglasses, but all her body language speaks of being serious. "I'm not the enemy, Kai. Even if I work for them."

"And somehow, those two statements _completely_ disagree with each other." I'm tired of talking. I want to hit something. But I can't abandon my responsibilities. "You're avoiding the question."

"This would be easier if you were a Seraph or an Elohite. Even a Malakite. Why should I answer if you're not going to believe me, and there's nothing I can say that will convince you?" She takes a sharp breath. "Let me try this from the start. I'm willing to provide you with information, and a certain amount of assistance. I've arranged things such that I have... call it a month, before anyone will notice I'm gone. For that period of time, I'm all yours."

"What do you want in return?" Judgment is going to have _fits_ when I tell them about this, no matter what I end up doing, and I'm not sure Gariel's instructions covered this level of involvement from a demon. Next time I'm back in Heaven I'm going to ask for a copy of that employee handbook Nosha mentioned, and see if there's a chapter on situations like these. Maybe a sub-heading entitled "Insanity: Yours or Theirs?"

"I want this project dead, Kai. Ripped out and eradicated, so no one dares take it up again. There are others I hate more, but this one happens to be where you are, so I'll take my chances where I can get them." She takes off her sunglasses to look me in the eyes. "I'm not such a brain-washed follower of the--of Vapula to not be able to see when something he's doing could hurt all of us, not just the other side. But I _can't_ do this alone without going Renegade, and I wouldn't last long if my little, ah, traitorous streak were obvious."

"I'll look into the information. I can't promise anything more."

"That's all I'm asking for." She slides down off the fence, pauses to brush dirt off her pants. Such an Impudite. "Take the day to look into it, and I'll meet you tomorrow. Same place, same time. Now that I know it's worth the effort, I can pull out more information for you to work with. And if you're convinced you need to kill me? You'll know where to find me."


	8. An Intermission With Technology

Aglaya made sure the Ofanite hadn't followed her before pulling off to the side of the road again. A dead gas station, its sign wrapped in tarps, provided a parking lot that wrapped around the central building, and thus a decent cover from the road should anyone else drive by. She climbed out of the car, kicked the door viciously, and then pulled out her phone.

"Yoshi's Computer Services, how may I help--oh. Amy. What's up?"

"You're sure you pulled the right files?" Aglaya found no place to sit or lean that wasn't covered in dust, and settled for standing in the sunlight, one arm around her to hold her jacket closed. Cute though the jacket might be, she intended to trade it in for one that buttoned or zipped. All the wind seemed determined to rip it away from her.

"About as sure as I'm going to get for what you're paying, sweetheart. You're sure you got the right angel?"

"How many Ofanim of Lightning can answer to the same name? Yes, I'm sure I got the right angel, but this isn't working." Aglaya reconsidered. "Or at least it's not working well. Hostility, I can work with that. Self-righteousness, check. But no one who's ever belonged to Creation should be this fucking clueless about flirting."

"You're a demon. Of course he's not going to be falling over you. Give it time."

"From what I've heard, that didn't stop him before." She kicked the car again, not hard enough to damage anything but hard enough to make her feel better. A piece of junk fobbed off on someone too unimportant to deserve more, and having deliberately kept herself unimportant didn't make the insult more palatable. "So maybe he's holding a grudge. Maybe he has a 'one demon at a time' rule. I don't know. But I should be getting headway by now. Some sign that this will work later on. You can't get anything more for me?"

"Amy, I've already pulled everything easy to find. You want me to get into more dangerous areas, we're going to have to renegotiate the price."

Aglaya considered the amount of debt she was in, compared to potential rewards. "No, I'll adjust my tactics. And level of subtlety. I wouldn't think a Lightning type would need to be hit over the head with suggestions, but so be it."

"How about playing redemption-bait? From what files I have, sounds like he'd go for it."

"Too dangerous." She wiped the car's left mirror clean with one thumb, and examined the smudge. Dirt always gathered on things, and couldn't be removed without moving it onto something else. And so the cycle continued. "I become a little too convincing, and the next thing I know I'm staring at an Archangel. Or I have the Game believing it too."

"If you can't play at uncertainty and the need to be gently swayed for a few weeks, you're not as talented as I thought."

"Mm. You think it's a good idea?"

"It's what I would do, in your situation." Yoshiko laughed. "Which I won't be. I don't know when you picked up the habit of playing dangerous games, but they're not my style."

"Maybe I'll give it a try." Aglaya pulled open the door to the car. "By the way, if you see any trouble coming my way, let me know, and I'll owe you for it. Standard rates?"

"Deal. And I'd taken that as assumed. Take care of yourself, Amy. You get much further in debt to me, I'll have to start coming up with creative ways to call in favors."

"Understood." She snapped the phone closed, and stood for a moment in the parking lot, staring at the sky.

But it was cold, and other places would be heated, and filled with Essence-rich humans. What better way to warm herself up? She drove away, and smiled.


	9. In Which Logistics Are Managed

"They finished the data recovery!" Maharang sets a fresh cup of coffee beside me in the lounge I've retreated to. "And they say they can get you all the information you need if you send the request again, because they couldn't recover that."

"That would have been useful six hours ago, before we finished with the printouts." I tap the chalkboard, and it erases the last few lines I drew. "Have they isolated the problem to prevent a reoccurance?"

"Maybe maybe. But they say in the process they discovered some marvelously awful things to do to a computer network, if needed." Maharang perches on top of the chalkboard. "Gariel wants to see you, but says it's not urgent and can wait until you're at a stopping point."

"Did he say what about?" I redraw the lines, and consider. It's not the most efficient system possible, but by allowing for certain small redundancies and power waste here, we can save far more energy in the next phase. I'd prefer a perfect system; under this deadline, I'll settle for an acceptable one.

"Nope. I think it's private." The reliever drops down from the top of the board to hover by a corner at the side, and draws out winged stick figures. "The Earth work classes started today. We talked about gravity. I mean, I knew all about gravity from my physics classes, but I hadn't realized it could hurt people that way. If you walk out a window, you just fall! Whether you want to or not! The corporeal plane is weird, isn't it?"

"Quite." I step back to take a look at the design. Not my best piece of work, but given the time constraints, nothing to be ashamed of. "Maharang, what do you think?"

"Um." The reliever flies back to see the whole design. "The mechanics of this are kinda beyond me, but it looks good so far as I can follow. But why aren't the two halves symmetrical? It looks like they're trying to do the same thing."

"They are. But this is meant for use on the corporeal plane. One needs to allow for certain issues."

"Gravity?"

"And structural integrity." I tap out Nosha's address along the edge of the board, and send the design along. "If you have the time, could you go see if there are any new images for me to read? It'll be at least half an hour before Nosha's ready to send back feedback."

"Right on it!"

I find Gariel in a conference room, where he examines a dozen displays set up along the walls. "You wanted to see me?"

He settles down at one end of the table, and takes a moment to preen down the feathers of one wing. "Kai's Heart resides in your office?"

"It does." Bottom desk drawer on the left. One triad questioning me said this was a disgraceful way to treat a friend's Heart, but Kai doesn't mind. There's only so much storage space in the office. "What trouble has he gotten himself into this time?" If it were an emergency--they would have called me in faster. But if there were no problem, Gariel would have waited until after the project was complete to discuss this.

"Aglaya approached him with information." The way Gariel's wings flutter up and then settle again suggest he finds this notion nearly as disquieting as I do.

"And you trust her as much as I do. But we can't dismiss the information entirely." I drink the coffee I brought with me to distract me from the tension forming in my chest. "You want someone to watch his Heart, for signs of trouble."

"Regular checks. We'll move it to standard storage areas, and assign relievers."

"You've approved interaction with her, then."

"Yes." Gariel shifts in his coils. "She was once of Lightning, and was lost young. This may be a sign that she can be reclaimed. Kai has experience working with other potential candidates for redemption. The risk seems acceptable."

I can't remember ever hearing such a long speech from Gariel before. I wonder if he knew her back then. "I understand."

"You're content?"

"Ah. Well." I would rather write this than try to explain in person, but here the two of us are. "I could worry for Kai's physical well-being. But he's lost vessels before, and seems capable of quick recovery from Trauma. And of all the angels I've known, I cannot possibly imagine him being tempted towards a Fall. It isn't in his nature. Nor, for that matter, in his dissonance conditions. So long as we're checking up on him regularly, he'll be at no more risk than usual."

"Is that all?"

I spread my hands. "And I have a project to concentrate on. If I worry too much, I'll end up entirely distracted. I'd be more comfortable with this if he had a Cherub attuned to him, but the situation doesn't demand that use of resources." 

He closes two eyes, opens them again at me. "Considered that. An Elohite judged this would constitute 'cruel and unusual punishment' for the Cherub."

"The comment is, ah, not entirely unjustified." Considering how often Kai's put me into a panic through pursuing his jobs in unorthodox manners, and I'm not even attuned, only...attached. In an ordinary sense. The most metaphysical part of our relationship is the one hook I hold on my Ofanite, enough to let me find Kai wherever he's gone.

Gariel nods, and turns back to his work.

In my office, someone's taken the time to remove all the stacks of paper. A folder waits in the center of my desk, full of photographs of people's eyes. In a moment, I'll discover what all those strangers Need, pass the information on for others to use. I do little hooking myself, these days.

I sit down at my desk with coffee in hand, and pull open the drawer where the Heart I was given for safekeeping waits.

A glowing sphere, more light than crystal to it. A spinning wheel of fire once put this Heart in my hands, and asked me to keep it safe. Kai's never asked me to keep him safe, but he's entrusted me with his Heart.

I could wish I were a Cherub, some days.


	10. In Which Things Get Noisy

"Sleep badly?"

"Yeah." I spent half the night trying to work out on paper what Aglaya might be up to, and even with the new Force, couldn't come up with anything that made sense. Went through most of my notebook in the process, and folding the discarded sheets into origami bits didn't help. I need to learn new designs; my attempt to create an origami Ofanite went poorly. And even more so than before with that demon in the city, I don't dare go to sleep and wander the Marches as boredom hits. "Still working on the snood?"

The motel clerk holds up her current mass of yarn. "No, it turned into more of a beanie. Now I'm working on a stuffed rabbit." The yarn she's chosen this time is fluffy, purple, and appears to be consuming her hands. 

I set us both up with the dreadful coffee. "If there are any messages--"

"Oh, right." She pulls out a sheet of motel-branded notepaper. "Call came in just before I arrived. Are all of your friends such early risers as you are?"

"Fair number of them." I try to puzzle out the handwriting. I think the mass of pen marks are meant to form some sort of words. Probably even in English. "They didn't choose the night desk clerk for his penmanship, did they?"

"Or his sobriety. Here, let me see that. I have more practice." She takes the note back. "Right, this bit at the top is your name and room number, and it says the call is from... Okay, I can't read that name at all, but there's a T at the beginning, about four letters, and the message says..." She squints at the note, and holds it closer to the desk lamp. "Coming to...something, will by, um, be here in a few...days. I think that last word is days. Meds--no, wait, _needs_ to...something, something, something first."

I take the note back. "Thanks. I think."

"We aim to serve." The clerk returns to her yarn. "Unfortunately, we have lousy aim. But if you cared, you'd be paying for a more expensive motel. Have a good morning!"

"You too."

On the way to the coffee shop, I tap at the Symphony for a few other locations. By the time I arrive I have a decent idea of where any police might be coming from if I try breaking and entering. The War Servitor I spoke with yesterday was polite enough, and helpful for someone trying to keep low cover, but didn't provide me with any good alternate routes. This place doesn't have much celestial activity. And how scary is it that I'm hoping Aglaya will have a better plan than what I've come up?

She's at the counter, talking with the kid who has trouble getting the caps off of bottles. "Already got your coffee," she says when I get there, and hands me a to-go cup. "It's a pretty morning. Why don't we go walking?"

"Sure." Caffeine between my hands, a demon at my side, and we head out into the cold morning air. If it weren't for her, it would be a pretty morning.

We walk a few blocks without talking, I think both of us paying more attention to our drinks than even caffeine deserves. "I'm sorry," she says, while we're stopped at a corner waiting for the light to change. 

"What for? Not that I doubt you have things to apologize for, but I could use a little context." I don't like the way I sound today. Sure, I've decapitated, stabbed, bludgeoned, strangled, and otherwise done in plenty of demons in my time, but I usually wasn't...rude.

"For yesterday. I wasn't on my best behavior." We walk across the street in front of a line of paused cars, all their engines longing to roar out again. I can sympathize. "I'm not accustomed to dealing with...your kind, these days. I shouldn't try to manipulate you."

"You weren't doing a good job of it, either."

She chuckles. "As I said. But, please, if I could start from the beginning? I don't expect you to trust me, but I'll be as honest as I can, under the circumstances."

I bite back the first reply that springs to mind. Having dealt with demons so often of late, I ought to know better than to be needlessly hostile. It's seldom effective. "Thank you."

Aglaya moves away for a moment to deposit her empty cup in the trash can at a bus stop. "I don't know where to start," she says, and when she returns she walks more closely by my side. "I've never been in charge of anything. Support personnel, background work, all those little things... I'm more used to following orders than working out a plan. Even after I figured out what I ought to do, it's taken me time to get this far."

"I need more information. You said you didn't like this project. Why? What do you know about it?" What she ought to do is run to a Tether of Lightning and ask to come home. But even Mannie needed time to work his way towards that, and he wasn't dealing with the shame of having Fallen. I can be patient, it's not what I do best, but I can be patient. 

"Scraps. I find my information in pieces. What I've overheard, the things people mention or carefully don't mention, rumors and supposition." She tucks her hands away in the pockets of her coat, silly little coat with no way to zip it up, against the strength of the wind blowing down the street. "I heard of the need to conceal experiments from the humans who run the place. I don't know if what they're doing is actually connected to the official project, or if they chose the place for some other reason."

"At least that means I can safely eliminate plan Z from the list of options."

"Which plan is that?"

"Burn the place to the ground, let God sort them out. Not the most subtle way of dealing with a problem, but sometimes, when all else fails--"

"Mm. Of course. Plan Z." Aglaya smiles up at me. "The famed ability of Lightning to approach delicate matters and cut directly to the point."

"It's one of the things I like about the Boss. Knows when to get down to business." She loses her smile when I say that, and I'm reminded she has a few reasons not to want to hear much about the Boss. "Any idea what they _are_ doing in there?"

"I heard a conversation. One of the people who'd been working on the project, since reassigned. She was boasting, said that if the project were successful, this could change the way the War was fought. Everyone says grandiose things about their own projects, but she sounded convinced." Aglaya wraps her arms around herself. "I don't know. Maybe it's nothing. I could be dragging you through all this trouble for nothing."

"Even if it's not that dangerous, I still need to investigate. That's why I'm here."

"That, and the threat of dissonance if you fail to oppose infernal technology." She gives me a sidelong glance. "But you don't have to worry about that, do you? Your Heart was made by Eli, not Jean."

"It's still bad form to violate the Boss's dissonance conditions, even if they're not bound into my Heart the way Dad's are."

"Last I heard, Eli didn't _have_ any dissonance conditions." She falls silent as an early-morning jogger approaches us. I finish off my coffee. If I were back in the coffee shop, I could be getting a refill. The sacrifices one makes for duty.

"Dad is pretty laid-back about that sort of thing. I like the freedom it offers. The need for different responses changes based on the situation, and a static dissonance condition means being constrained. Fewer options to work with, and creativity is more fun with more choices." I find a trash can to drop my cup in. "On the other hand, there's comfort in having a Superior bind that sort of thing into your Heart. It's like the edge of a stage; you can't dance out into the audience, but it gives you a form to work inside."

"And what do you think of Choir dissonance?" I can understand that touch of challenge in her voice. It's the same one I heard when a little Djinn asked me how Cherubim ever survived, always hurt if their attuned were hurt.

"That's a matter of who you are. Whether how you were made or how you were chosen. Some tougher than others. I mean, me? I get off pretty lightly. Got to keep moving, and how hard is that? I expect each Choir finds it equally straightforward, though, from their own points of view. It's a matter of being who you are." And then there's Jack, whose nature ought to draw him away from any violence, demons the only exception, and he can't seem to stop hitting things. He never used to have so much trouble with it before, and I don't know what's started it now. Sharon has better aim than I do, and can take care of the both of them when things get nasty; I recruited her when she got me out of a nasty tangle with two demons. But once he's worked off that dissonance and gets himself hooked up with a properly bloodthirsty Windy like Kelly, he'll be fine again. I don't like worrying about him; Jack could always take care of himself, before.

"You make it sound so easy." She's shivering now, and we should have stopped some place warm instead of walking down the street, no matter how much I prefer to keep moving.

"Not easy. Just...straightforward." I pull off my jacket, take the piccolo out of the inside pocket, and hand the jacket over to her. "But maybe that's because I think in straight lines. Dissonance isn't a subject I've given a lot of thought."

Aglaya blinks at me, and then pulls the jacket on over her own. "Never had a touch of dissonance in your life, have you."

"Once." I shrug at her look. "Got into a weird situation. Ended up having to vessel-kill a friend to save another. Kinda freaked me out. Completely ruined that piccolo, let me tell you. You _cannot_ get the blood out of one of those things after it's gone through someone's chest."

"Mm. I can imagine. And your friend, did he recover?"

"Oh, sure. She bounced right back. Malakite. Didn't hold it against me, though she was annoyed, because by that point Janus was starting to ask pointed questions about how she was going through vessels that fast. Now, the Malakite of the Sword I had to take out once, he held that against me. Which was unfair, since I didn't even whack the vessel, only knocked him out. I think he was holding a grudge about the jumper cables." Her expression has reached bemused. "I swear, it's not like I go out of my way to attack people on my own side. These situations just happen. And somehow, it's always Malakim. Kelly, the Swordie, Nomikos..."

"Now at this point, I'm curious. What happened to the third Malakite?"

"Set him on fire." I rub the back of my neck, and look away. "Twice. Not on the same day, though! Okay, so maybe that makes it worse, but it was an accident. Accidents. The whole triad was nice about it. They did ask me to stop making coffee. Um. Trying to make coffee. Coffee was not, in fact, ever achieved."

"I'm not sure which boggles me more. That you set a Malakite of Judgment on fire twice, or that his triad didn't drag you back to Heaven in an instant for the fault."

"Oh, they knew it was an accident. Accidents. They're pretty cool about things like that. I mean, they were looking for heresy and dissonance, not poor cooking skills." I ought to look up Nomikos the next time I'm in Heaven, see what he's up to these days. Dedan and Adala too, even though other Judges hint I ought to go elsewhere when I ask after them. "That's one of the things I miss, now that I'm working for Lightning. Having the triad show up every week. Nice to have the company, you know?"

"That...does explain a lot." Aglaya shakes her head. "But don't let me distract you. What did you have in mind, for our next action?"

"There are a few ways to go about it. If I knew of a weakness in the staff, I could try investigating a single person, see where that led. But it's too risky as a haphazard method. Unless you know more about any of these names?"

"No one I know personally." She laughs shortly. There's no humor to the sound. "That's one reason I was willing to come meet you here, and pass on this information. Being recognized would be...problematic."

"True. And on that note, where's your car? If we want to talk seriously, we probably want somewhere private, and trying to hold a conversation while riding a motorcycle gets tricky."

"Um. Back that way." She gestures vaguely in the direction we came, so I take us across the street and then back towards that area. "I left it in a parking lot for a laundromat. It's--"

"Three blocks back from the coffee shop, left side of the street, and it's easy to miss the alley to enter from if you're coming from the other direction. Fortunately, there's parking in the back too, for people who need to drive around the other side to get in." I grin at her. "I may not look into truth, honor, or the secrets of anyone's innermost thoughts, but the Symphony helps me find things in parking lots."

"Handy. I'll trust to your better sense of direction. And your driving, if you're willing to take such a horrid little car as that out for a spin."

The car isn't as horrid as she makes it out to be, though it could use a bath and an oil change. The stick is sensitive, touchy between second and third gears, but by the time I hit open highways I've worked out its quirks and the two of us have an understanding. It's a cute little car, perfect for tight turns and small parking spots.

Aglaya tilts the car's vents to point at her. "At least it isn't mid-summer. I don't believe the air conditioning works. Now. Where do we want to go next?"

"Let's see. Down the list. No direct source of information inside, so that's out. No obvious personnel to work on, either, which would be my next step. The place doesn't have any publicly released presence; no website, no brochures, nothing. I assume they get all their patients through private referrals or some other method that's not apparent. I have one pending way to get inside, but nothing's come of that yet."

"Which method was that?"

"Permission to shoot some photographs inside the grounds. The gate guard told me the request would be passed on, but I'm not sure that happened. And if it did, no guarantee I'd ever get a response. I don't have the skills to do serious research into information that's not right up front. You?"

"Mm. Some, but I've passed on what I was able to find."

"So we work with that." I reach over to pull the folded piece of paper out of my jacket that she's still wearing, and spread the sheet out across the dash. "Red-marked rooms on this floor plan are ones worth checking?"

"I believe so. These two are offices of the staff members I'm sure are demons." She taps on two rooms in a cluster of identical boxes. "And this one back here is the storage room for special projects."

"All of the Vapulans working in this place would need to hold down convincing Roles to get by among that many humans, right? Which means going home to sleep at regular intervals. Do you know if any of them work night shifts?"

"I'm afraid I don't know." She folds the paper up again, and returns it to the jacket pocket. "Kai, why is this pocket full of paper clips?"

"Emergency backup defenses."

"I'm nearly sorry I asked. Because now I'm compelled to ask further, what do you _do_ with paperclips in an emergency?"

"Line them up between my fingers while making a fist, and then slam them into someone's face. Serious damage, and most people don't even notice that coming, so they don't take extra measures to get out of the way of the blow. Or, with one untwisted into a straight line, I can get it straight into--"

"Enough! I mean. Enough information. I'll consider my question answered." She tilts her seat back a few notches. "Let me guess, you nearly fledged Malakite?"

"Of course not. Malakim are too slow."

"Ah. Of course."

I tilt the rearview mirror to watch her, because she's likely to go twitchy if I keep taking my eyes off the road to look at her. Her face has gone tired around the edges, as if she's finally let a controlled expression fade. "In any case," I say, "I think our best option is to do some classic breaking and entering. I'll get in touch with a few Windy friends, they'd know better how to pull it off, and then we hit the place one night, copy as much info as we can, and get out again with no one the wiser. Once we have a better idea of what's going on, we can work out more plans from there."

"That seems doable." Aglaya pulls out her sunglasses and slides them on as the turn of the road takes us towards the rising sun. "Though if I could make one request? Please don't call in a Malakite. Or anyone else who's likely to smite first and ask questions later. Acquiring another vessel after losing this one would be difficult."

"I'll see what I can do." Most Windies that I know are smite-happy, but they also twist rules into interesting shapes if promised sufficient mayhem. Come to think of it, Jack and Sharon would be more than happy to help, and if I ask Jack to stop by after his second week of Tether duty, he'll jump at the excuse for a little release from the tedium. "I can think of--"

A wave of disturbance rolls past me, and leaves an echo in my head. Aglaya twitches, in the seat beside me. "What was that?"

I spin the car around, bumping over the fortuitously low median strip. "Damage to someone. Or multiple someones. I think." Another burst of disturbance follows on the heels of the first, and I can nearly pinpoint the location now, maybe half a mile back and off to the right side of the road. "And that sounded like a Song, though I couldn't say which one."

"So why are we driving _towards_ it?"

Yet another clash of disturbance in the Symphony, and it's beginning to make my head jangle at the overlapping echoes. "That's what you do, when disturbance happens. You go check it out and see what's going on, and if anyone needs help." I remember what, exactly, is in the car with me. "Okay, that's what _I_ do when I hear disturbance. You can wait in the car, if you'd prefer." I whip around a semi-truck and slide onto a bumpy little road that hasn't been resurfaced in decades. 

"What do you think you are, a Grigori? You have no idea what's going on! It has nothing to do with your assignment!"

"Please don't bring up the Watchers, okay?" I hit the brakes as the road turns away from the disturbance, and there's nothing but a high chain link fence ahead. "Back in a few."

I slam the door behind me. The noise won't matter around this disturbance rocking the Symphony, and by now the echoes have criss-crossed so much I can't trace any one incident from another. Up and over the fence, through the trees with feet on the ground a pleasing rhythm to tell me I'm moving at an appropriate speed. I hope Aglaya isn't planning on driving back to the city without me, but I can summon up my bike if I need to get out of here in a hurry.

I expected to hit a house or a clearing for the fight, but I run straight into it while still surrounded by trees. Nearly step on a big yellow dog that lies on the ground bleeding, not yet dead but rushing in that direction. If I had any Songs that would help it, I'd do something, but my talents don't lie in healing. And there's intelligence behind its eyes, dark suspicion as it sees me. The dog growls, and I pause, crouch down beside it. A squirrel scampers onto my shoulder, and begins chattering furiously in one ear.

"Kyriotate?"

The dog nods to me, warily.

"How many are you up against?"

Three barks, weaker now. The squirrel on my shoulder begins chittering in a pattern, and then another brush of disturbance as the Song takes effect and the dog's wounds begin to seal themselves up.

"Great. I'll see what I can do." There's a leash dangling from the dog's collar, and I unclip it. "Hang in there."

Then pell-mell between the trees to a place where two more dogs, one of them a fluffy little thing that's making good use of its sharp little teeth, dodge and harry at three men. A falcon of some sort lies crushed and bloody on the ground. A bird swoops in--I know better than to try to keep track of a Kyriotate in combat.

The sharp clip at the end of the leash hits one man in the face before he's even seen me, rips a satisfying gash through his cheek on the way back out. And then I'm up there behind him, leash wraps around his neck and I kick him in the back of the knees, take him down in a mess of limbs. Up from the ground while the dogs go for his throat, the other two finally seeing me and one raises the rifle he carries, not that I'm about to be so slow as to wait for him to start firing that thing.

I sidestep, dart in, leash whirling in my hand, and straight between the two of them, spin around behind one to leave the other with his rifle pointing straight at the man. Shoot me through another demon and I won't even mind much. Pity that he's not so hasty as to try that, but the moment of hesitation while they're staring at each other gives me time to twist a foot around this one's ankle, send him slamming down with a nasty wound to his back from the leash.

And now that, that's a bullet that just went through my arm, no matter, I have more important things to concern myself with. I twist the leash around the third man's rifle, yank both out of the way, and if he won't let go, he can't aim properly either. Down on my back with him on top when he pushes me back with more force than I was expecting, both of us on top of the demon I pulled down. Satisfying, to see there's no disturbance from any of this damage I'm doing; nothing but vessels that I'm fighting, here, and the Symphony doesn't care if a vessel happens to be destroyed.

Tangled up between the two of them, dodging isn't so easy as before, and I take a crack across the head from the butt of the rifle. No matter, no matter, I have business at hand, though I don't like the look in this one's eyes, he knows full well the advantage he has on me now.

And half his head disappears into a spray of bone, brain, and blood.

I shove the dead body off me, stagger to my feet while the dogs rip up the last demon who lay beneath me. "Thanks for stopping in." I wipe blood off my face, and find my arm covered in gunk. "I don't suppose you have a portable shower in your bag of tricks?"

"Didn't think to pack one." Aglaya tucks away the teeny-tiny weapon she used, and it looks like a gun in exactly the opposite way that an orange water pistol does. "You look a mess."

"At least my jacket survived the carnage." This shirt is never going to recover, and I'm pretty sure the pants are doomed to a less wearable fate at that. I'm glad I left my piccolo in the car. I look down at the little blood-soaked dog who lies panting on the ground. "Is that everyone?"

The dog barks once, and then whines, and looks at Aglaya.

"Oh. Right. Hey, do you mind if the Kyrio borrows your vessel for a few minutes? I don't think it has anything that can talk available."

"My--oh." She shudders. "If it's necessary, go ahead."

Her eyes go blank for a moment, and then snap back to life, with a distinctly different look inside. "Thank you for the assistance," says the Kyriotate, though it sounds none too pleased. "May I ask your affiliation?"

"Kai, Ofanite of Creation, in service to Lightning." I'd offer it a hand, but both of mine are bloody and Aglaya wouldn't appreciate getting her vessel dirty. "What happened?"

"A bullet to the back of the head happened, that's what." It bares its teeth, apparently more accustomed to animal bodies than human ones. "We were out for a walk, and I heard nothing. Nothing! That one bit of metal could destroy such hopes." It stops, and bows jerkily. "But I forget myself. Neskikallian, Kyriotate of Destiny. You saved me from further dissonance, and aided me in destroying the vessels of these."

I follow the dogs and Aglaya's vessel further into the forest, to where a human body lies stretched out on the ground. "All destinies are precious, no matter how small," says the Kyriotate, and that's sorrow in its voice if I've ever heard the sound. "But she had a great one. My Lord should have sent a Cherub who could have sensed the danger, not a poor servant like me who could do nothing. I thought that by accompanying her on the walk, I could watch for danger."

"I'm sorry. I wish I'd been here sooner."

"It would have helped little." The Kyriotate sighs, and then turns to face me. The three dogs sit at three points around us, watching outwards. "I'll need to clean up traces of unnatural forces at work, determine how best to have this reported to the authorities, and begin investigating. It's too clumsy and blatant an effort to be the work of Kronos. If you'd like to use her house to clean yourself up, I can offer that much in gratitude. And to heal your wounds, if you can spare the Essence. I've used all of mine in protecting and healing my hosts."

"Thank you. If there's anything else I can do--"

"Unlikely. But I will keep it in mind."

We trudge out of the trees and up a hill to where a pretty green-and-white house sits. The greenhouse beside it has been carefully covered up for the winter, and a birdbath lies dry in the center of a garden. I think I would have liked this woman, whoever she was. "I didn't know you were in the area, or I would have come to offer my assistance earlier." Granted, I only finally stopped by to see that Cherub of War yesterday, and it was a very brief meeting, with her sticking firmly to her Role in case of listeners.

"We don't advertise. Excessive attention and interference seldom lead anywhere good." The front door is unlocked, and I wait there while the Kyrio fetches newspapers so that I won't drip anything nasty on the hardwood floors. "If you will pardon me," it adds, once I've reached the bathroom, "I need to consult with others. Please call if you need any assistance. I'll return your companion's vessel to her as soon as I've dealt with a few matters."

The hot shower is an embodiment of perfect movement after the slime and gore of combat. I spend longer there than I need to, admiring the way water soars ever downward and the patterns of the ripples around my feet on the tiled floor. I exit to find a clean shirt waiting for me, and upon further investigation, my jeans tumbling about in the dryer.

Aglaya walks in as I'm pulling on the jeans, and it's obviously her again from the way her eyes have changed back to their usual reserve. "It left a note," she says. "Not to lock the door on the way out. What was all that about?"

"Nothing related to what we're doing." It would be a disrespect to the Kyriotate to share what little information it gave me with a demon of uncertain affiliation. "We might as well head back to the city. It'll want some space to deal with the aftermath."

She nods, and I notice her arms are wrapped around herself again, for all that she's now wearing two jackets and standing inside a heated house. "You'll want to call those Windy friends."

"Among other things." I plot out possible events for the afternoon in my mind. A touch of additional research here, a little bit of planning and discussion there, hit restaurants for lunch and dinner for responsible Role maintenance... And I don't want to let her out of my sight for long. "How do you feel about laser tag?"

"About...what?"

"You sound just the way Mannie does when I've followed a train of thought he didn't see pulling out of the station, do you know that? Laser tag. Great little game, sneaking around with fake guns in dimly lit rooms trying to shoot people. Aside from the rules about not running, it's a fun way to use up a few hours. It's going to be a day or two before I can get any Windies down here. Want to play?" I double-check with the Symphony; two locations in the city. Perfect.

"I've never played before."

"Don't worry, I'm a lousy shot. If you get too confused, it's a good idea to find a high location and snipe." I run one hand through my hair, trying to get wet hair to conform to some system of order. At least it's short enough to not hang in my eyes. "If you'd prefer, we could hit a movie instead, but I warn you, I'm not good at sitting still for long stretches."

"No, laser tag sounds fine." In a voice that says she's humoring me, but I can live with being humored. I enjoy a chance to play a game once in a while, not always stuck in work-work-work 24-hours a day. "Could we perhaps drive back to the city without being interrupted by anything else?"

"So long as nothing else decides to interrupt."

"I can't ask for much more than that," she says. Puts her hands in her pockets, and walks with me back outside.


	11. An Intermission With Wind

Jack drove faster than he was sure he could safely, fingers drumming out an unhappy beat on the wheel. It wasn't that she wasn't speaking to him, he knew she wouldn't be so petty, but there was an understanding between them in the car. If he brought it up, she would present her opinion again. If he brought up anything that could be returned to the subject, she would present her opinion again.

"We need to stop for gas soon. Or a new car. Hungry?" That was safe. Neutral subject. Unrelated to the things they weren't talking about.

"Not really." Sharon called up a patch of fog on the window with her breath, and traced a series of lines through it. She wasn't looking at him, and it was nearly as bad as the buzz itself, to not be able to tell what she thought of him anymore. To not know how she saw him in her life. 

Jack missed the exit, watching her, and suppressed a curse. There'd be another exit soon enough. "Ever been to Memphis?"

"Not yet. What's in Memphis? Aside from a dead singer." Sharon shifted in her seat to watch the road ahead of them. "Or is Elvis undead? Because that would be weirdly cool, I think, if the people who say he's dead and the ones who say he isn't are both right. Mummy Elvis, lurking in the heart of Graceland... I can see it."

"Possible! But not so far as I know. What Memphis has is a Trade Tether. Always got along well with Trade. They buy, they sell, and if they don't have the cool toys that Lightning does, they know who'll pay for them."

"And you'll stay at this one for a week?"

Jack shuddered. "You know, it makes my skin crawl just to think about it. One place for a _week_. But...yeah, I think I can manage it. Don't remember who the Seneschal is, but Trade's...workable. We get along fine. Won't be any problems there."

"Good." Sharon played with a toy she'd picked up from a gumball machine at the last gas station, six curved bits of plastic that could only be put back together into a sphere if arranged just so. "I'll grant the Sword Tether was a bad idea."

"A very bad idea." Jack examined the topic, decided to approach it cautiously. "And the Flowers Tether wasn't such a good idea either."

"It was _Flowers_ , Jack. They make Creationers look suspicious and unreasonably hostile. I still don't understand what happened there. Three days and then you cutting out, I could understand that, but two hours?"

He did not say, _There was a Seraph, and she was seeing more than I wanted her to see._ Instead, he said, "All the smiling put my teeth on edge. And gardening? So not my thing. I'd rather push a broom around than get stuck weeding. In a Tether of Trade, there's bound to be plenty of people, and that makes the job easier."

He caught the next exit, found a gas station. And strangely wasn't much in the mood for acquiring a new car, so he only paid for the gas with one of the credit cards he'd stolen. Sharon hit the convenience store and returned with enough snacks to keep them both occupied for miles.

"Don't know what you're going to do in Memphis," Jack said, around a mouthful of Twinkie, once they were back on the highway. "Sure you won't be bored?"

"A city that size? I'm sure I can find something to do." Sharon picked coconut flakes off a bit of cake. "Maybe someone at the Tether can teach me a few new Songs. Or help me with the one I've got. I'd like to be able to heal a wound reliably without taking so much time on it. I heard the Corporeal Song of Motion is a thousand types of fun."

"What you need, babe, is the Corporeal Song of Shields. Insta-protection, and damn near nothing in this world can get through it." Jack reconsidered. "Nothing physical. But a little more protection against the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune couldn't hurt, right?"

"Not at all," Sharon said. "I'll ask about that one."

A drop of Essence sank into him, filling a slot that had been empty for too many days, and Jack heard words in the back of his mind:

_Need assistance getting through security. Help me when you're done at the Tether? Same place?_

And then Essence again:

_Also, give me back my phone, you thieving bastard. Love, Kai._

"Ha!" Jack grinned at Sharon's bemusement. "Got a message from Kai. Sounds like he needs a little help breaking through some bit of security, and of course he knows we're the ones for the job. Memphis can wait."

"You think that's safe?"

"I'll be fine. He's asking me to help him break into a place, not assault a coven of sorcerers or the like. It'll be fun. _Much_ more fun than a week of grinding through chores. And we can head off to Graceland as soon as we're done with what he needs." His smile was calculated to charm away all her uncertainty. "Can't object to helping a friend, right?"

"Right, right." She smiled back at him. Most beautiful sight in the world, these days. "Should be fun."


	12. In Which Some Poor Cherub Is Probably Doomed

"Running four in parallel borders on the ridiculous, Nosha. Two is acceptable redundancy, and I could be talked into three, but four?"

"I like the parallel structure." The Elohite taps at the modifications it's made to my design. "Redundant, yes, but the structure works better this way. In a three-way sync, any one failing leaves the other three still fully connected. I believe it's an acceptable excuse for the power requirements."

I consider the design parameters we've been given, and sigh. "Reliability is more important than reducing the power draw, yes. Do you ever get tired of being _right_?"

"Never." Nosha laughs, and sinks back into its chair. For once we're meeting in the Elohite's office instead of mine, and while I find the window out onto a courtyard to be an unnecessary distraction, it is a pleasant place to work. I've never felt any need to decorate my own office, but the photographs tacked across the walls in here lend the place a certain...personality. Although I still haven't worked up a polite way to ask about the picture of Dominic. "If you're agreed," it says, "shall I go ahead and send the design to Gariel for approval? And then it's only a matter of making sure Teresa's section hasn't changed drastically since the last review."

"You might as well. While I continue to object on aesthetic grounds--" I pause as a knock comes at the door. "Expecting anyone?"

"Not during this project, no." Nosha's eyes light up the way they always do when it's been presented with even a hint of mystery. "Come in!"

The door swings open, and a Cherub scampers in, pulls himself up onto his hind legs. It takes me a moment to place the animal this one's form has been based on: a bilby, of all the odd little creatures to choose from. At least in celestial form the Cherub isn't anywhere so small as the animal, though he does seem a touch undersized as Cherubim go. "There you are," he says, wiggling his long pink nose at me. "Would you believe this is the fourth place I've checked?"

"Is there something I can help you with?" I allow myself an acerbic note in my words. I'd rather take the precious few minutes of downtime between the report being sent and the meeting being called to speak with Nosha.

"Actually, yes." The Cherub passes me a handheld GPS unit. "If you'd be so kind? I need a good lock on that mad Impudite, Aglaya. I'm told you have a hook."

"A half dozen of them, and a Geas on top of it." The artifact I'm holding feels much like a standard compass of attunement, but... "This offers distances, and works without touching the target, doesn't it?"

"Got it in one. They fold me you were bright." The Cherub yawns. "You have the hook, so you can set it up to track her. Then I finally get down to business."

I tie the string of this artifact's Song around the hook that rests in the demon, and pass the GPS unit back. "Can it only track one person at a time?"

"This is only the beta, what do you expect?" The Cherub tucks it away into a pouch on his belt. "I'm told the next version is supposed to handle altitude as well as two-dimensional orientation, but it's not like I can wait around for the 0.8 release, no matter how buggy 0.7 might be." He gives me a quick thumbs-up. "Thanks for the help, and now I'm off to track down that Ofanite."

"They've sent someone to attune to Kai?" Nosha chuckles. "I'll wish you luck, you poor Guardian."

The Cherub's long ears flap forward. "What? I'm perfectly capable of keeping someone safe. Especially when it's another angel. My briefing said it was effective at self-preservation, at that. Now if they wanted me to guard a Mercurian, that might be a _challenge_."

"They didn't tell you about Milwaukee, did they." I shouldn't be enjoying this quite so much, but a small part of me rejoices in the thought that someone _else_ will now fully appreciate why I end up so worried after my Ofanite.

"...what happened in Milwaukee?" I recognize the nervousness in the flicker of this Cherub's ears.

"You'll have to ask Kai yourself. I wouldn't dream of telling all his stories for him." And because the Cherub has begun to look distraught, I add, "I'm glad to hear you'll be watching out for him. He could use the help, and the company."

"An angel shouldn't be left alone under the influence of infernal forces," says the Cherub, and it drops back to all fours. "I'd better get running. So much to do before I head down, and I'm told the commute is long."

The moment the door shuts, Nosha shakes his head. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Wondering just how much trouble that one could have gotten himself into last time, to deserve an assignment like this?"

"I'm tempted to search his file just to find out." Nosha folds its hands primly. "But as this would serve nothing more than to satisfy my own needless curiosity, I won't."

"I, on the other hand, have no need to refrain from satisfying my curiosity."

"Excellent! Then I'll assist you. Perfectly objective to give help to one's friends." Nosha's computer chimes, and the Elohite turns to check the new message. "It'll have to wait until after the meeting. And the next round of design tweaks. In the meantime, we can engage in baseless speculation."

"You always do know how to bring the fun in, Nosha."


	13. In Which Some People Are Reliable

Aglaya sits on the park bench, arms wrapped around herself. I'm going to need a new jacket; she hasn't taken mine off since I gave it to her. Now that the sun begins to drop, even I'm noticing the bite in the air. "You think they'll come?"

"Jack's reliable, even if he is a Windy. And not the sort to turn down the offer I made. They'll be here within a week." Depending on whether Jack's had a chance to start on his second week of Tether-work yet, that is. Explaining this situation once he arrives will be its own fun and a half, as Mercurians aren't on good terms with Impudites, even more so than with demons in general. I pace around the bench, playing with the yo-yo the War Cherub gave me. (She said it was to keep me occupied enough to stand still while talking to her, but it's a far better toy for use when walking.)

"That's good," Aglaya says, and her voice seems far away, as if she's speaking through a wall. She lifts her face towards the sky, eyes closed, and shivers. "What now?"

"Killing time, I guess. What research we can work out, and a bit of cautious scouting around the edges. The more information we have for Jack and Sharon when they arrive, the better a plan they'll be able to work out."

"You say 'cautious' as if you know what it means." She opens her eyes, spreads her arms along the back of the bench. "Not a bad plan. But I meant right now. What do you do all night?"

"Since I got here? Stay out late, hit my room for theoretical sleep, leave as soon as possible. I'm not fond of sitting around in a small room any longer than necessary, but Roles are Roles." I don't know how humans stand it, sometimes, that unbearable _need_ to stop and sleep, six to eight hours out of every twenty-four of being unconscious and still. Like a touch of Trauma, over and over again. Of course, they have dreamscapes to run to, and maybe that's one reason the angels of Dreams are so vital, to usher humans through that endless cycle of...being stopped. Unaware to the world. "You?"

Aglaya shrugs. "I've been trying to do my own brand of research, but I'm...outside the usual networks. I can't get anything more than I've acquired without starting to pay heavily for it, and I'm only willing to take on so many Geases for someone else's benefit."

I wonder how many Geases she does have, tied up in promised knots to come here and offer her help. I really wonder what she considers important enough to do that for. Another old grudge tied up in this project, maybe. "So this is why we're calling in some more help of my own. It's good to have friends."

"I have friends, Kai. It's only that they expect a certain amount of return on their investments."

"Words are easy, like the wind. Faithful friends are hard to find."

"You don't consider them friends, if they expect the debts to be paid back?"

"Not really." I drop down on the bench beside her for a moment, my yo-yo spinning up and down from one hand. "You do things for friends because they're your friends, and you expect them to do the same because you're theirs. Keeping score misses the point."

"Easy for you to say. Your Lilim isn't allowed to keep hooks in you. You think he'd be on such good behavior if there weren't the weight of Judgment around to keep him in line?"

"One hook," I correct, and it is something to consider. "I don't know. He can get a bit weird about control. I don't think he'd Geas me into anything he thought would hurt me, but I can see him doing so for what he considers my own good, if he were given the option. Doesn't really have an opportunity to come up."

"They let him keep a hook on you? Do they _know_?" I don't know how to interpret the look she's giving me. There's surprise to it, but something else too, and I'd very much like to know what.

"Of course they know. And, yeah, one hook. So he can find me." Bored of sitting. I go back to my pacing, a dead-simple circuit around the one bench. There's no one in the park but the two of us this time of night, empty playground full of dangling swings. I miss spending time around kids, getting a chance to teach. Maybe after this job I can talk to the Boss about working something out. No reason this Role couldn't expand to do teaching, right? Or, heck, day care, it would be something. 

"So he can find you. What...perfect sense it makes. I forget, sometimes, the way Heaven can...accommodate."

There's a world of information dropping between the gaps in her sentences, but I don't know where to start asking, and I doubt I'd get answers if I did. "Library's closed by now, so that's right out, and believe it or not, there's not an internet cafe to be found in the city. Want to grab dinner? There's a taco stand eight blocks from here, and a place that does frozen yogurt just past it."

"Frozen yogurt, in this weather?" She pulls herself up off the bench, and waits in the path of my circuit for me to break off, walks (more slowly than I'd like, but it would be impolite to move too quickly beside her) back to the street.

"They make the flavors you ask for to order, from frozen bits of fruit, in the quantities you want. Mix and match. Great stuff. Dad would approve. But if it's too cold for you, there are plenty of other places."

"And leave you disappointed? No, I'll just pass on it while you go do your, ah, fruit-mixing thing."

Weird that it should be so comfortable to walk beside her. She doesn't seem much in the mood for conversation, so conversation doesn't happen, which suits me fine. Makes my head half spin sometimes after talking with her and I realize how easy it becomes. I've had plenty of time talking with demons of late, but it's different when I have a particular goal in mind, and know what they think of me. Aglaya's not young and confused, though she might be insane. There has to be a touch of insanity somewhere to choose Hell over Heaven.

The inevitable end result of dinner and dessert is caffeine. Two places in the city open twenty-four hours, so we choose the one with better music, if inferior coffee. Killing time, always with the killing time. I ought to be out doing something useful, but I don't want to let the Impudite out of my sight. She wears her charming face, but from moment to moment I can see her...thinking. Puzzling something out.

At two in the morning I've gone through more cups of coffee than I can remember, and Aglaya's read every magazine in the shop and about a week's worth of back issues of the paper. "Outside?" I suggest. Drive away somewhere _anywhere_ and keep moving. The middle of the night isn't the best time to take a look at the walls and fences around that research center, but I can dig up a flashlight if pressed. Or build one. I'd need to find parts, but a flashlight isn't that complicated. Or set something on fire. Plenty of flammable stuff around waiting to be picked up.

"I'm fine," Aglaya says, and flips the page in the magazine she's reading. She's already gone through this one twice before.

I don't have the patience to hold out any longer. "Back in a bit," I say, and move for the door. In the reflection of the glass, I catch sight of her pulling out a phone as I leave. If she wants to scheme behind my back, I can't stop her; might as well let her get down to it.

The air outside is cold enough to hit my lungs like biting into ice cream straight from the freezer. Beautiful. I can't make out much in the way of stars through the haze of street lights, but there's space, as many roads to travel as I need to until my head begins to spin at a more reasonable rate again.

A car skids to a stop at the curb. "Always the last place I look," Jack says, and Sharon's already run up to hug me. "Every time. Do you have any idea how many coffee shops there are in this city?"

"Only two open this late," I say, and that's all the spin I need to get myself together again, friend on either side of me. "I wasn't expecting you for days."

"Like we're going to hang around somewhere boring when you need a hand?" Jack pulls me into a hug so tight I can hear my ribs creak. "Tell us all about it."

"First, you give my phone back."

"You have _no_ sense of priorities." Jack pulls out my phone, drops it into my waiting hand. "I think you have some messages. It stopped ringing after a while."

"I _need_ this, Jack." Though it's hard to be annoyed at him when he's grinning down at me like that.

"That's just what you _thought_. You've been getting by fine without it, managed to contact me anyway. And thus once again I've proven to someone the peril of becoming dependent on small, easily-concealed items with a high resale value, while helping them learn how to adapt to a changing environment." He puts one hand on his chest. "I'm a veritable _saint_ , Kai. How can you criticize me for a noble act like that?"

"And I, for one, would like to say that I didn't know he took the phone." Sharon kicks at Jack's ankle, and though she doesn't connect, she does make him do a quick half-jog out of the way. "Or I would have had him turn around and bring it _back_. Sorry about that."

"I did manage, so no major harm done. Except you know there are a few people who are going to get all annoyed and ranty at you the next time you see them, Jack."

"Story of my life. So what evil lurks about needing thwarting?"

We head out down the empty streets, one of them on either side of me. "The short answer: I'm not sure, but I want to find out. Better answer: I've identified a place that's more than likely hiding something, some project for Technology, and I need to get inside to work out what it is they're hiding. From there, I can figure out what to _do_ about it. But since I don't know what I'm looking at, I need a clean sweep that can get me in and out without letting on that I was there."

Jack nods slowly. "Should be workable. Might need a day or two for checking out the security setup. Especially if it's mixed infernal and human, that'll keep things complicated."

"No, I haven't even reached the complicated part yet." I try to stick my hands in my jacket pockets, and realize Aglaya still has it. No wonder it's so cold. "Remember back at that weird Tether I was helping with, when the place was attacked and everything got messy?"

"Sure," Jack says. "Nearly lost my vessel in that one. Do you have any idea how hard it is to attack someone with a mop?" He laughs shortly. "Okay, never mind, you could do it, but I was short on defenses. So what about it?"

"It didn't come up at the time, but did you notice the part where I disappeared for a few hours?"

"Sure. Helping your Lilim get out of the way, or something." He dismisses the incident with a breezy gesture.

"Right. Well. It was a bit more than that." I try to come up with a succinct way to describe a situation I still don't understand. "Long story _very_ short, there was a demon involved who gave us information about the upcoming attack--if not, more's the pity, a _time_ for when it was planned--and who helped us out of a nasty situation. And she's the one who gave me what info I have about this current place."

"She's gaming you, Kai. That's what they do."

"I know. But." I shrug. "I'm told to take the info and work with it, carefully. And whatever her game is, apparently it involves helping me directly."

"Not just feeding you info? She's here working with you?" Jack spins me around to face him, both of his hands on my shoulders. "I don't like this, Kai. What's Lightning _doing_ to stick you in a situation like this? By yourself, at that. This is...careless of them, that's what it is. Putting you in that kind of danger for what reward? Stopping some sort of you-don't-know-what?"

"They wouldn't do this if it weren't a good idea." I pry his hands off my shoulders. "Relax. I'm not alone. I have the two of you here for a few days, I can call for help if I need it, and...I'll deal, okay?"

"So tell us about this demon," Sharon says. Her arms are crossed, but I've worked with her long enough before to know that's not a sign of disapproval, more a sign of being ready to reach for a gun.

"Name's Aglaya. Impudite, Vapulan. Nice in person, but she would be, especially trying to get our cooperation. Not powerful, as far as I can tell, but...experienced." I turn back towards the coffee shop. "Used to work for Lightning. About a century back, I think. It complicates matters."

"Not Renegade," Sharon says, "or you would have mentioned that. A Vapulan working to bring down a Vapulan project? That's way past weird. And you don't know why?"

"Nope. Her first claim was that she had something against the project, but she doesn't know much more than I do about what it is. She's passed other information to us before that checked out, or we wouldn't be listening this long."

"Way too much uncertainty in all of this for me to like it." Jack moves between Sharon and I, an arm around each of us. "But if you're tangled up in it, we'll deal. I mean, demon. She tries anything, I _will_ hurt her."

"Fine, but wait until she actually tries something, okay? I'd like to give her a chance."

"Kai, you idiot. Don't go trying to redeem her. She Fell, story closed, we take the information she'll give and move on. You have far too much sympathy for your own good."

"And here I was thinking you were the one who always picked up the ones with the sob stories." I expected a little more sympathy out of him, but then again, it could just be the whole Mercurian vs. Impudite thing.

"So I got over it. Look where it got us last time. You lost a vessel and a Role and got caught by the Game, I lost a vessel, Kelly lost _three_ , your favorite Judgment triad got broken up--"

"And Heaven ended up with a new Bright Lilim. We came out ahead."

"You would think that." Jack's fingers tighten on my shoulder. "Never mind. Just...be careful."

"I will be."

Aglaya stands outside the door of the coffee shop. "These must be your friends," she says, and doesn't offer them her charming smile. "I'm Aglaya. I imagine Kai's told you about me."

"He has." Jack's taken on his imposing voice, and he seems very tall beside me right now.

Sharon puts out a hand, and grins. "That's Jack. I'm Sharon. Don't mind him, he's just had a bad month."

Aglaya takes her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Incidentally," Sharon adds, and I can see how tightly she's holding the Impudite's hand, "if you hurt either of them, I'll shoot you. FYI."

"I'll keep that in mind." Aglaya retracts her hand, gingerly flexes her fingers. "Did you want to begin tonight? We can go over the information in the morning, when we can see the location to compare to the plans, but whenever you'd prefer."

"I, for one, need a few hours of sleep before we start any marathon planning sessions," Sharon says. "Do you know it started _sleeting_ on the way here? Less than fun to drive through."

"In the morning, then." I think I'm nominally in charge, here, being the only one working directly on an assignment. "Meet back here at seven?"

"I'd prefer later," Sharon says, "but I can catch up on sleep during the stakeouts. We'll grab a motel. Any place you'd recommend?"

"Not mine. The coffee is dreadful."

I end up with Aglaya at my side again, heading back towards my motel. "Where are you staying?"

"Nowhere. My car, mostly. It's not as if I need to sleep." She offers me a crooked grin, now that we're out of sight of the other two. "I'm on a tight budget, and I don't know what else I might need the money for. Or how long this will last."

"Hadn't realized that." I weigh the options. "Come back to my place? I mean, so far as a motel room can be called my place, but it has a television and a heater."

Aglaya nods, after a moment. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

Almost precisely my thoughts, yes. "Along those lines. And there's no point in risking attention from wandering around in the middle of the night."

"Agreed, then."

The room's precisely as I left it, clean socks lined up across the dresser by the television and the bedspread rumpled. Aglaya sits down on the bed, and watches me as I work out my pacing route for the night. Bathroom door, far end of the desk, television, to the lamp on the other side of the bed, heater, door, television, back to the bathroom door again.

"You're not what I expected," she says, on my third circuit.

"How so?" This is my favorite way to talk, motion set out just so for me to follow, no need to think about it during the conversation. My feet will take me where I need to go.

"You're more...I don't know. Responsible than I expected. For a Creationer."

"Comes with the job. I mean, my job. Or the one I had. Working with kids, you need to be a good example."

"Mm. No drugs, no swearing, no public sex?"

"I don't even smoke, drink, or litter. Terrible, I know." She kicks off her shoes, and tucks her feet up beneath her on the bed. The gel in her hair has begun to break down, leaving her with a mass of floppy spikes. Makes her look sad and lonely, like a dog tied out in the yard while the kids are inside watching TV. "Jack tells me that Judgment started to wear off on me, having them stop in every week for so many years. I think that if that were the case I would have had more trouble running around with Windies for months."

"Absolutely terrible." She pulls my jacket tighter around her, and shivers. "Could you turn the heat up?"

I pause by the heater. "It's at 80, Aglaya. How much warmer do you want it?"

"It is? Never mind, then." But she doesn't stop shivering.

I drop down onto the bed next to her. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing and your teeth are chattering in a room this warm?"

"It's. Not much." She pulls her knees up to her chest, wraps her arms tight around them. "Don't let me interrupt your pacing, okay?"

"I can pace later."

"Don't you need to keep moving?"

"I am." I lean over to push off my own shoes, and then sit cross-legged next to her on the bed. Never would have made it as a Windy, I even feel guilty if I put dirty shoes on the bedspread. "As I sit here, the Earth is spinning on its axis. The point where we sit will do one full turn around that space, the entire circumference of the Earth, in twenty-four hours. And this planet goes turning around the sun, a nice regular orbit if a bit low on the variation, this vast distance in space, in only a year. There is no way to _stop_ moving, if you look at it the right way." The shivering has slowed, at least, and she doesn't hold her knees to her chest quite so tightly. "So. I can wait."

The world spins around beneath us for a moment, taking us along.

"It's only a little Discord," she says. "A very small amount. I picked it up when. Ah. When I first..." She gulps in a breath. "At first, all the dissonance, I tried. To convert it to Discord. I was doing something wrong, but I didn't want to... Anyway. Never lost it. Just a very _small_ amount of Discord. Not worth anyone's time to take it away. Only comes up sometimes. Not often."

"You can't stay warm."

"It's a stupid thing. Really pointless. I mean, compared to the sort of Discord some people have." She runs one hand through her hair, the last traces of style there disappearing into a distraught mess. "It was cold that night, and a bit of it stayed with me. That's all. It'll pass. Comes and goes." She lets her knees fall, and stares down at the bedspread. "You can have your jacket back. It won't help."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was my own damned fault." She chokes out a bitter little laugh. "You know what hurts? That there wasn't any reason to do that. I Fell anyway. Didn't do me a trace of good to slap a permanent disfigurement on my soul. Should have saved myself the trouble and embraced the inevitable."

"You call it inevitable--"

"I'd rather not talk about it." She presses her hands against her knees, knuckles gone white. "Could you...forget I mentioned this? Or. Um. At least not put it in your report."

"Not really."

"I suppose my faults are written a thousand times over in Heaven, anyway."

"Probably not. They seldom require more than triplicate."

It's enough to surprise a short laugh out of her. "Three times over, then. I wonder, sometimes..."

She doesn't finish. I'd stand up to pace again, but one of her hands has moved to hold mine, and so I can wait. A little longer. Let this planet take care of the motion for me, though soon I won't be able to feel that pull anymore and I'll need to do something with myself again.

"I don't need saving," Aglaya says, finally. "Not from you or anyone else."

"Mmhm." She hasn't let go of my hand.

"You're not convinced, are you?"

"I'm ever an optimist, Aglaya. And I don't look at the world in complicated ways. Heaven's right, Hell's wrong, and life would be that much better if everyone could figure this out. It's not that easy, but it's how I think."

"You can't understand Falling, can you?"

"Nope. Can't even begin to comprehend it."

"Would you believe I find that comforting?" And she turns to wrap her arms around me, her chin resting on my shoulder. "Such a responsible not-quite-Sparky. Do you put everything in your reports?"

"Everything relevant." If ever someone needed a hug, she does, and I have certain suspicions, but I can...let them be, for the moment. Wrap my arms around her and wonder what she could have been if she'd held out long enough for help to arrive, through whatever it was that pushed her down to Fall.

"Is this relevant?"

"Peripherally. I take notes during the week, review everything at the end for what, in the grand scheme of things, is actually worth bothering someone with. It's almost like a game, trying to wrap my mind around Lightning. It's different than working for my Dad. They don't care so much about the best coffee shops in the area as he would." I smile, though she can't see it. "I keep those notes separate. For whenever I next see him. I can hand over the list of things he'd care about most, then."

"How...methodical." She kisses me, lightly. "I believe the appropriate phrase is, want to regain some Essence?"

"No thank you."

"Not in the mood?"

"Not my type."

"And what is your type?" She pulls back far enough to look me in the eyes, half-smile on her face. "Taller, male, Lilim?"

"Heading to a Tether to prepare for redemption."

She shudders in my arms. "I had to ask."

"I like you, Aglaya. Heaven help me, I do. But I don't _trust_ you."

"Don't," she says, and curls up tight against me. "Don't ever."


	14. In Which I Consider Myself Lucky

"I find it interesting," Nosha says, stirring jam into its cup of hot chocolate, "the way we recapitulate Earth. All the possibilities of Heaven at our disposal, and what do we do? Sit in a coffee shop on couches that have been designed slightly differently to allow for less humanoid forms to use them, discussing personal matters over hot beverages."

"Not only hot ones," says Teresa.

"The presence of iced mochas aside, my point remains. Which raises the question, is it a matter of needlessly limiting ourselves to follow Earthly patterns, or does it serve a useful purpose in giving a sense of the familiar to those of us who need to work on Earth regularly?" Nosha takes a sip from its cup, and grimaces. "New data point: hot chocolate and rhubarb jam combine badly."

"It's certainly comfortable, though I wouldn't call it entirely a matter of what's familiar," I say, watching a six-eyed winged serpent deliver coffee to a mass of loosely connected body parts and mist. "More simply, why shouldn't angels imitate those parts of corporeal existence that they admire? And some of it transferred in the other direction. Angels bringing down to Earth concepts that they'd already perfected here in Heaven."

"Would do Earth some good," Teresa says. "I've never understood the fascination some angels have with that place. It's noisy, smelly, prone to injuring people through sheer coincidence, and that's when the place is ignoring your presence. Can't so much as take your true form without the Symphony running around crying over the matter. If it weren't for the humans there, I don't know why anyone would bother."

"Jordi and Novalis might object to your assessment, but I'll grant Earth isn't so pleasant." Nosha sets its drink aside, and flags down one the relievers who waits tables. "Could I have a fresh cup? Thank you. The corporeal plane has other benefits, though. For one, direct interaction with the enemy."

"You view this as a good thing?" Teresa frowns. "Direct interaction leads to temptation, corruption--"

"My dear Intercessionist," Nosha says, "you might recall that when the first Fall occurred, there were no demons around to do the corrupting. And yet, such large numbers as those still managed to find their way to Hell. Demons may corrupt, but they're not the only reason angels Fall. Through interaction with the enemy, we have our own chance to both combat evil and to convince others of their errors."

"I'd just as soon never encounter them. Let them stay sealed in Hell like they once were."

The Elohite and I exchange a look, and agree that it isn't worth arguing the point. "How has your latest personal project been going?" I ask Nosha.

"Moderately well. I'm having trouble finding sufficient energy resources to power the aquatic use system I've added."

"Only you could find a way to equip a car with so many features that your fusion reactor engine can't support them. Why are you adding an aquatic system?" I've known Nosha for long enough to recognize the beginning of this game, and I was perhaps hoping for it, now that the latest crisis has been sent on to another group to deal with.

"If the car functions in the water, there's no need to have a boat as well. It's more efficient to let one piece of machinery perform the work of several items that would never be used simultaneously."

"Have you _ever_ needed a boat?"

"Not so far, but I consider contingency planning to be a virtue." Nosha takes a sip of the new cup of hot chocolate, jam-free, and favors me with its best bland emotionless-Elohite expression. "Would you be willing to lend me some assistance in working out how to adjust for this power issue?"

"Get a _room_ , you two," Teresa says, and Nosha laughs. "Mannie, you have a love life a Creationer would envy. If it's not Kai jumping you in your office--"

"We'll spare you the talk of efficiencies and wiring systems, then." Nosha rises, hot chocolate in hand. "Mannie?"

I finish off my coffee, and leave the cup. "Shall we go speak about the conservation of energy?"

"Let us."

"She worries too much," I say, once we're safely out of earshot. "And stresses too easily. Aren't Mercurians supposed to be more social? Though I suppose she does get along with the blessed souls who work in the Halls of Progress."

"Teresa has always been a good worker," Nosha says, "and a diligent one. So I can't object to her work habits, no matter how annoying they might be."

"And they do annoy you?"

"Yes. I find her reactions to be unreasonable given the stresses involved, and I dislike the way she dismisses alternative points of view as inherently inferior to her own. However, none of this prevents her from doing her work well, and she will concede to objections if they're proven to be valid. So it's only an annoyance, and annoyance isn't a viable motivation for me to object."

"I used to wonder about Elohim. If that need for objectivity came with the control to remain objective, or if they spent all their time fighting against what they wanted to do, trying to do what was required."

"I can understand why you'd be intrigued. Working beside a Habbalite for so long..."

"Along those lines." We've chosen to take a longer way back to the Halls of Progress, down a winding gravel path that borders on the Glade. "I used to collect hooks on Elohim. Not that I had much opportunity to do so, but when the chance arose... I did, perhaps, go out of my way to do so."

"I would think any Lilim would be proud of a Geas on an angel."

"Oh, it's a boasting point for them. Not that I joined in the boasting; I always preferred to play my cards close. And avoided Geases where I could acquire hooks instead. There's something to be said for the element of surprise." We pass a group of Kyriotates in intense discussion, the angels so close that I couldn't count where one began and another ended if I tried. "And geasing angels is _dangerous_ for a Lilim. Hostile, powerful, and inclined to call in help? I don't believe I ever called in one of those hooks."

"If you didn't intend to use them, why collect the hooks?" There's only curiosity in that voice, and though I didn't expect Nosha to take the conversation personally, I'm glad that it hasn't chosen to be critical of my old habits.

"I found it...interesting. Everyone needs something, but Elohim were always full of these desires that they had no intention of ever following through on themselves. Or asking anyone else to do for them."

Nosha nods, and then turns to look me in the eyes. Elohim have such strange wide eyes, in colors you see nowhere else. The only touch of color to all their smooth pale forms. "What do I Need?"

"Right now? To figure out how to solve that problem on your car without removing the systems you've installed."

"That sounds like a plan, then."

A Cherub bounds over a tall hedge to our left, and flutters down to the ground before the two of us. The one that escorted me to the Flowers Tether. "And there you are! To think I went all the way to the Halls of Progress looking for you, and you were right next door. Mannie, are you busy?"

"Between projects," I say. "If this won't take long--"

"Not at all." She leaps into the air again, and pauses in mid-air over the top of the hedge. "If you'd follow me?"

I spread my wings, and follow her over the hedge. Nosha trails along behind me. "What do you have to show me?" I suspect I know, but one can't trust Flowers to be straightforward or focused. For all I can tell, she wanted to invite me to one of the parties they hold in the Glade.

"You asked that someone send word if that little Balseraph made it through redemption. She has, and it seemed a good idea to take you to meet her." The Cherub flips her tail up, and bounds away through the grass. "Come along, then."

I hurry to catch up to the Flowers Cherub, and she slows her prancing to let me walk beside her. "Tina made it through intact? I'll admit I'm surprised."

"Well. Intact is perhaps a strong way of putting it." The Cherub sighs faintly. "She lost three Forces in the process."

"She only _had_ seven."

"So I'm told. All of her Ethereal Forces, at that, so she won't recognize you, but she was given one to replace those she lost, and she's...learning." She bounces into the air, and wings along for a few paces with her feet tucked up beneath her. "I've never seen a Seraph so small. I would call it a tragedy, but perhaps it's as well that she doesn't remember anything of her old life. Though I'd hate to think she can't even remember who her friends used to be."

"She didn't have any. At least, none on Earth." Incompetent bumbling little Tina, outlet for the frustrations of every other demon in the lab. No surprise that she could never do anything right, under pressure. "I don't think she's forgotten anything she would want to remember."

"I hope not." The Cherub leads us through an arbor covered in roses, to a small area surrounded in hedges, like a roofless room. There's a low table there, and a Mercurian stands up as we enter to bow to us. "She was given a new name, to be a new creature under the eyes of God."

And at the table, a tiny winged serpent, all six eyes concentrating firmly on the paper stretched out on the table. She works diligently with her crayons on the picture before her, wings fluttering from time to time as she sorts between colors to pick up another. She's barely larger than Maharang, a coiled Seraph the size of a five-year-old human child.

"Ling," says the Cherub, dropping down to lie by the table, "there's someone here to see you."

The little Seraph looks up at me. "'lo," she says, blinking all her eyes. She ducks her head, covers her face with four of her wings, peers at me between feathers. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Ling."

"Emmanuel," I say, and sit cross-legged on the grass across from her. "But you can call me Mannie."

"They say I knew you. Before. But I don't remember." Not-Tina lets the feathers drop away from her face. "Were we friends?"

"No, not really. But we worked together for a time, and you owed me a few favors." I sort out the hooks that lead to this tiny creature, and let them dissolve, one by one. "You don't owe me anything, now."

"Okay." She selects another crayon, and draws a yellow line down the paper. "I'm drawing a picture of Mama Novalis, when she brought me to Heaven. I keep trying, but none of my pictures are good enough yet. Maybe this one will be good." Her wings flutter out, settle down again. "That's the first thing I remember. That I wasn't falling apart. I don't remember falling apart, but I remember Mama holding me together, and telling me I'd be okay." She leans forward across the table, to whisper in my ear. "And she was telling the _truth_."

I watch her color for a few minutes, Nosha still waiting quietly behind me. "I ought to go," I say. "Good luck with your picture, Ling."

"It's not good enough yet," says the Seraph, and pushes her drawing aside for a fresh sheet of paper. "But I'm going to keep practicing until I get better. My friends say if I want I can try all sorts of other ways to draw." She looks up as I stand, and stretches out one wing in a wave. "Thank you for coming to see me. Will you come visit me again?"

"I will."

"Good. I like to see my friends." And then she's back to intense concentration, one color after another to draw a picture no one else can understand.

Nosha doesn't speak until we're well out of the Glade, all the way back to its workshop where the car waits for us. "Why the terror?"

Having a friend who can read your every emotional quirk is not always comfortable. "Because I could have ended up like that. No memories, mind of a child, and even that bit of mind granted to me. When I asked the Boss to bring me through redemption... I feared soul death, I feared that it was a lie, I was even afraid of being so weak on the other side that I wouldn't have been worth the effort. But I never thought to be afraid of losing myself."

"Do you consider yourself to be the sum of your memories?" Nosha pops the hood of the car, and begins detaching the safety covers over the engine.

"Not entirely. But of what I am..." I go searching for the first toolbox we'll need, and find it where I left it last time. "I'm the Forces that make me, but those aren't my choice. My Mother twisted those together, and most of them from Vapula himself. I'm the choices I've made and will continue to make, but all my past choices are part of memory. I'm the sum of all those things and memory. If I lost memory... I'm not sure what I'd have left."

"Great and worthwhile things are seldom easy, or without risk." Nosha turns on the holographic view of the engine's interior. "When Jean held me together and I was redeemed, I lost eight Forces. I had only the strength of a new demon, by the time he was done. But I've never once doubted that returning to Heaven was worth the price I paid."

"I don't doubt it was worth it." I watch as the display begins marking out the new system Nosha has grafted on. "Or that it would have been, if I'd lost more. This doesn't prevent the idea from frightening me."

"Maybe redemption should remain terrifying," Nosha says. "Fear was once a holy Word. If redemption was an easy and gentle process, there'd be less reason to fear a Fall."

"Do you think that's reason enough for it to be so hard?"

"No," says Nosha, and yanks the first fin out of the side of the car. "No more than gravity exists to remind us not to walk off cliffs. But I don't think you want to spend all this time working here with that as the topic of conversation, do you?"

"Possibly not." It's a topic for another time, but I'd like to enjoy this lull between crises while I have the opportunity. I pull a wrench out of the toolbox. "Conservation of energy?"

"Let's conserve some."


	15. In Which Larceny Is Planned

"Hey," says Sharon, from down below, "do you know if there's any poison ivy in these woods?"

I finish scrambling up as high as the branches will allow. "Don't know, sorry. Watch what you touch?"

"I guess." She stuffs her hands into her pockets. "This would be more exciting if Jack let me help. It's not like I haven't cased trickier places than this. Like that one time we hit the Game Tether. I mean, that came off messier than expected, but he didn't tell me to wait outside while he had all the fun, either."

"I believe he's concerned for your safety," Aglaya says. She rests against the bottom of the tree, hands in her pockets.

"If he were all that concerned, I wouldn't be running across the country with him." Sharon sighs. "Besides, what could be that dangerous about casing a research center?"

"You never know," I say, and experiment with hanging my knees from a branch. I snap a picture of each of them from up there, and wish Aglaya weren't wearing her sunglasses. It would be convenient to get a snap of her eyes to send off to Mannie. Maybe later. "Remember what happened in Milwaukee when we thought we were just hitting a real estate office."

"Point. But if anything, I should be tagging along to keep _him_ safe. I mean, hello, Mercurian." Sharon picks fragments of bark off the tree.

"A Mercurian who can take care of himself," Jack says, sauntering towards us. "The wall's nothing more than stone, and the security system? I could break through with a toothpick. I'll bring more tools for this clean in and out, but I'm not expecting trouble. Only hitch I can see is if there's a night shift, but that's a matter of keeping watch and staying out of the way. This place is not designed for high security."

Sharon coughs. "And I remember when you said that Game Tether was--"

"Okay, so I've made mistakes! But, seriously. Cheap, generic security systems. And unless this project is monumental, they're not going to have artifacts hanging in every entrance, of which there are several, I note. Not even counting windows."

"Windows aren't as much fun on Earth as they are upstairs. You go out a high window, you just _fall_." I swing down out of the tree, and land neatly on my feet in front of Jack, because that's what I do. Tripping isn't my style, that one time I lost a foot aside. "Think we can hit the place tonight? I'd rather get this done soon, so that it's not a problem if we need your help again."

"Easy enough. Call it, oh, two in the morning? Late enough that even really late workers have gone to bed, not so early that early risers arrive. " Jack stretches, leaf-filtered sunlight rippling across his black leather jacket. It's a pretty picture, so I snap a photo of it, and hope the lens settings were right. "What's with the new photography habit? Taking up a hobby?"

"It's a Role thing," I say, which is true, if not the entire truth. I don't want to go into the details of Discord pictures in front of Aglaya. "Do you know how _fast_ a camera lens can open and close?"

"No, but I trust you'll tell me on the way back." My ever-favorite Mercurian grins, and slings an arm over my shoulder. "Coffee?"

"Always."

We end up deciding on the place with lousy chai but good sandwiches, on Sharon's reminder that _some_ people need to eat out of necessity and not just Role-maintenance. Jack pays, with the credit card he swiped from my wallet at some point, and Aglaya collects a newspaper on the way to the table. It's a weirdly comfortable dynamic for such an odd group as us four, but at least Jack's not eyeing the Impudite like he's trying to figure out where to hide the body. Or not so often as he was last night. A bit of paranoia in her direction isn't a bad idea, but I can't _work_ with people at each other's throats. Being nominally in charge of this group is weird enough already.

"There has to be something to do in Memphis," Sharon says, prying her sandwich open to eat it layer by layer. "I mean, once we get there. Kai, you ever been to Memphis?"

"Not yet." I let the route to that place stretch itself out in my mind, a moment of imaginary travel. "See if there are any clubs with good live music? There ought to be, in Memphis."

"We could stop by Austin," Jack suggests. "There's supposed to be plenty of live music there."

"Memphis," Sharon says.

"Just a quick stop on the way--"

"Memphis!" Sharon waves a pickle at him in mock threat. "No detours, no side trips, no errands, no 'Oops I forgot that I left that talisman in the motel three states back.' Memphis."

"Fine, so we're going to Memphis!" Jack swipes the pickle. "Relax, Sharon. It was just a suggestion."

"Oh, my," Aglaya says, so quietly I nearly don't hear her. "Kai?" She folds her newspaper over and passes it to me. "That article."

"Huh. Dead body, currently believed to be a hunting accident, no suspects--" I stop. Re-read the paragraph about the dead woman. "Assistant director of the Richard Hodges Center for Research. You think that's--"

"I recognized the picture," Aglaya says, and there is a fuzzy scan of some photograph accompanying the article, cropped to leave a smiling woman and half of someone's arm staring out at me. "In the house, there were..." She picks up her drink to turn it about in her hands. "Pictures. I tend to notice these things. In those circumstances."

Three demons and a hunting rifle. Overkill for getting a single human out of the way, and messy, likely to draw attention, but if they knew she being watched... Still, even for Vapulans, that's unusually direct. "Any other articles about missing staff?"

"Not that I saw." She takes the paper back, flips quickly through. "They could have been, mm, freelancers? Brought in to deal with the problem. No local Roles."

"Didn't strike me as the type who do that sort of thing professionally. Scientists doing fieldwork, that I could believe. But someone would notice if that many people didn't show up to work in the same place on the same day."

"Maybe. Dominations have certain talents for dealing with issues like those. Calling in sick, family emergencies..."

"And somehow," Jack says, "I get the impression that I'm missing out on context. Want to fill the rest of us in?"

"Sure. But not here." There are ways to get around particular words and concepts when discussing private matters in a public place, but if I need to hold an entire conversation about Kyriotates of Destiny, murders, missing demons, and Vapulan plots through clever use of metaphor and euphemism, I'm going to need a lot more coffee than they can offer me here. And there's a Kyriotate out there who has information we want. "I'll explain on the way."

Finding my way back to a place I've been is easy, even taking Jack's car. Aglaya's quirky little hatchback may quarrel over shifting, but at least it has decent acceleration. The waiting is harder, partly because I'm easily bored, and partly because this is not a happy little family. Which should be attributable to having Aglaya with us, but...isn't. I can't read all the tension I'm feeling. I'd just as soon wait here with Sharon, but I know better than to leave Jack and Aglaya alone together.

Finally, a squirrel runs down a tree trunk to chatter inquisitively at me. "Sorry to bother you again," I say, "but I think we need to talk."

The Kyriotate glances over at the rest of them with me. Sharon raises her hand. "Default Kyrio host," she says. "Go ahead. I'm used to it by now."

Her eyes unfocus for a moment. "What do you need?" the Kyrio asks, folding its arms. "I have other matters to see to."

"Short story. We're investigating the center where your human was working. Well, where 'investigating' means 'breaking into and riffling for data later tonight', anyway. Seems reasonable to assume there's some connection between the Vapulans there and why you ended up with three demons in the back yard."

It's silent for a moment. A bird wheels overhead, and I can't tell if it's the Domination or only local fauna. "That seems unlikely to be a coincidence," it says. "What do you want from me?"

"Information on what she was looking into that might have gotten her killed."

"I don't know. I followed her to work, but only observed from outside the building. The day before that incident, she seemed agitated, but otherwise didn't act unusually. I assumed she'd had an argument with some coworker. If she did discover something that would have put her in danger, she made no move at the time to tell anyone else." It sighs. "Certainly not her dogs. Perhaps I should have borrowed her body for a few moments to check what she might have written on the computer, but I was attempting not to interfere."

"So probably nothing monumentally shocking. Enough that they considered it a major risk, though." I set out a quick and simple circuit to pace through, to let me think more clearly. Impudite, Mercurian, human-Kyriotate, tree on either edge to keep things stable. "We are going in tonight. If you came along, you might be able to help us look in appropriate areas. That, and your Choir is handy for dealing with unexpected security guards. We're trying to keep this _quiet_."

"This seems suitable. I would like a chance to further investigate the ones who did that to her. You believe there are more than those three involved?"

"Don't know. We might be able to find out."

The bird dives down into the trees near us, and a moment later, a fat brown mouse scrambles up Sharon's leg. She shakes her head, and opens a jacket pocket for the mouse to climb into. "That ever continues to be weird," she says. "I take it the Kyrio's coming along?"

"Apparently so. Do you mind if Neski-mouse rides in your pocket until tonight?"

"Hardly. It's cute."

The mouse gives a tiny, disgusted sniff from the top of the pocket, and then disappears down inside.


	16. In Which Larceny Is Committed, With Varying Degrees Of Success

Sneaking isn't among my talents, though I've spent enough time with Windies to not be a complete failure. Still, it's comforting to notice that Aglaya has a harder time of the "creep silently across the dark open areas of the gardens towards the main building of the center" process than I did.

Sharon hums quietly as she picks the lock on the first office. She's not even using Jack's skeleton-key talisman, but doing it entirely on skill. Neski-mouse sits on her shoulder, watching the process.

The door swings open, and she grins at Jack. And then all four--five of us pour into the office, and shut the door behind us. "Files," Aglaya says, but I'm already pulling open the drawers to the desk while Sharon fiddles with the lock on the file cabinet.

In a few minutes, people are waving various bits of theoretically-useful paperwork at me. Vigorous picture-taking ensues. That's the joy of being in service to Lightning; I don't need to understand any of this, just pass it along to someone who can. Suits me.

"Ought to check his computer," Sharon says. "Though I don't know what sort of protection he's likely to have on that..."

"At least standard security," Aglaya says. "Possibly something customized as well. It depends on his emphasis. Now, breaking through it could be...challenging."

"Don't look at me," Jack says. "Locks I can do. Surveillance cameras I can do. Burglar alarms I can do. Password-protected files? You're on your own."

"It's not my specialty either," Aglaya says absently, and gets to tapping at the keyboard, completely ignoring the mouse. It reminds me of the way Mannie deals with computers, when he's forced to. "I'll see what I can do. I once traded a great deal of Essence to a Habbalite for a few backdoors in the usual systems, and I suppose this is as good a time as any to see if he was telling the truth."

The door opens, and Neski-guard walks in. "There doesn't appear to be anyone else making the rounds," the Kyriotate says. "I'll continue walking about unless this host is needed near you." It takes a moment to straighten the uniform its host wears, and frowns. "One would think that humans would take better care of their bodies, having only one."

"We try," Sharon murmurs.

"You suceed. You have a comfortable body to operate. This one, not so much." Neski-guard frowns, and gives the jacket one last tug. "I'll be back to my rounds."

"You know," Sharon says, once the door's closed again, "I like angels. Get along with them fine. Appreciate the things they can do. But I am never, _ever_ going to get used to Kyriotates. Every time I think I've learned to deal with them, they go and weird me out again."

"What about that one Windy Kyrio we dealt with, over in Little Rock?" Jack flips idly through folders in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Thought you got along fine with that one."

"Oh, sure, she was great, but when she thanked me for remembering to brush my teeth? That got weird."

I finish up with the photos on all the files we've pulled. Nothing that looks useful from what I've seen so far, but then, half of it I don't understand, so how would I tell? "Aglaya, how goes the file-cracking?"

"Not much cracking to it. I haven't encountered a protected file or folder yet. Nothing useful, either. I'll keep looking, but I'm not sure it's worth the time."

I set the balls in clacking motion on the executive toy that sits on one corner of the desk. "Only one more office we know for sure to check, and we can't linger too long. Any objections to hitting that storage room next?"

"I'll get to work on the lock now," Jack says, scrambling to his feet. "Sharon, mind holding the light?"

"Sure thing. Though I still say a Sparky ought to be able to get us some of those cool night vision glasses or the like."

"Tch. Waste of time. It's all in the feel and the sound."

"And yet, you bitch if I let the light wiggle."

The door shuts again, and Aglaya smiles. "They're cute together. It is a pity that circumstances are...as they are. I can think of a few jobs I'd love to ask them for help on. Known them for long?"

"Sharon, a few years. Jack? Half past forever. We used to play together as relievers. Mostly around the Groves and the Halls of Creation, but we flew all over the place." I sit on the edge of the desk, and poke at the clanky little metal balls. "There's this one staircase in my Dad's place, spiral thing, made up of this great wrought-iron railing, and a bunch of individual stairs set together. Every stair's been carved by a different reliever who was hanging around when the guy who built that staircase got to that part. Jack and I have stairs right next to each other. His is done up in trees. Nice work. I mean, especially considering he had, what, four Forces at the time?"

"But he didn't become a Servitor of Creation?" She's still focused on the screen, doing whatever computer things it is that one does when searching for information.

"No. Changed his mind. Or got talked out of it, I think. That was right when the Boss was moving a lot of his Servitors around to other words. I think Wind suits him better anyway. Jack's idea of art is pulling off a heist _cleanly_." I pull out my yo-yo. Wonderful little toy, and I should have gotten myself one ages ago. "So I can hardly hold it against him."

"Oh? Why would you?" She frowns for a moment, and then begins typing more briskly. "Did he really--ah. Yes. Well, that was clumsy on his part."

"It's nothing. When we were young, we figured we'd end up fledging the same Choir and join up with Creation together. But I fledged first, and by the time Jack got around to it, he didn't want to go Ofanite or Creation. Wasn't anything serious. Just kid stuff."

"Mm. Kid stuff." She pushes away from the computer. "Not much of use that I could find; I've sent it on to an account for retrieval later. On to the storage room? Or whatever that place might be. I wish the map had been labeled."

The storage room turns out to be not so much storage as some sort of lab all its own, intimidatingly high-tech machines looming down from the ceiling. "Interesting," Aglaya says, as we step into the room. "Sharon, could I borrow your light for a moment?" And then she's off to peer at various panels. "It's...hmm. Not quite standard, but ordinary medical apparatus."

I stare up at the odd pointy shapes stuck to the ceiling. "Are you sure? Because if you told me it was a really freaky new deathtrap, I'd believe that."

"I suppose you haven't been in hospitals much. Or at least not into the rooms with this sort of equipment. No, it's only for various types of scans. Think of it as an advanced form of an X-ray machine. That doesn't use X-rays, and can examine more than bones." Aglaya hands the flashlight back to Sharon. "I'm afraid I don't know enough about these machines to say how they've been modified."

"Weird," says Sharon.

"Tell me about it." I begin snapping pictures of all the pointy bits and panels alike. "I still think there ought to be a trapdoor around here somewhere, this kind of setup."

"No, not that kind of weird. Like, let me look at the blueprints again weird." Sharon points her flashlight at the sheet of paper Aglaya hands her. "Okay. So this room is supposed to be three times as long as that office we were just in, right? But it isn't. Twice, sure. Maybe even a bit more. And it's hard to tell with all this junk in here, but three times? It's not. I'm sure."

"Flaw in the blueprints, or concealed room?" I ask, more to myself than anyone else. "Right. Dealing with Vapulans. Concealed room."

"If it's in the usual location..." Aglaya walks along the back wall, and then taps on a tall metal cabinet. "Can someone get the lock on this one?"

"Right on it," Sharon says. "Should I expect any unpleasant surprises?"

"Wouldn't be a surprise if you were expecting them," Jack says, and gives the lock a once-over while Sharon pulls out her tools again.

The door right inside the cabinet proves trickier. I meander past various panels and scanners and I-don't-know-whats while the Windies get that taken care of, and Aglaya leans against the wall watching me. I need to find another chance to talk with her, some time when she's not so upset. And possibly some place with a little less company, because I'm sure there are things she won't talk about in front of Jack and Sharon. Maybe not to me either, but that I can't know until I ask.

"Right," Sharon says, "that's that. Door's all yours. Experience tells me it's a bad idea for me to be the first one to walk into hidden rooms."

"Oh? Hadn't heard that story." We swap places, leaving her out with Jack while I step into the cabinet. "You'll have to tell me about that some time."

I turn the handle, and open the door just a crack. Light begins to seep out; so they haven't turned the lights off inside? No sounds from inside, so I push the door open the rest of the way, and step inside.

Tiny room, barely enough space for more than one person to stand in the center. And around the edges, stacks of cages, mostly empty. I count two dogs, three cats, and in a cage at the back of the room too small for it to turn around, a mountain lion.

"Weird," says Sharon, right behind me. "Why would they go to all the trouble to hide this?"

"I don't know. It's not very humane, but..." I crouch down to look at the nearest cage. The dog in there is muzzled, and shakes her head fiercely at me. "Vapulans mean weirdness, one way or another. The trick is figuring out what kind of weirdness this is."

"I think the cougar's drugged," Sharon says. She puts a hand inside its cage, and receives no response. "Still breathing. And...okay. You want weird? How about this. All these animals locked in cages, and only this dog over here has a water bottle and food dish. Bare cages for everyone else. Only that one has newspaper on the bottom of its cage."

One of the cats yowls at me, and scratches at the lock on its cage.

"Sharon. Can you get this cage open?" I motion her over to where the dog continues to give me a pointed look. "I have a nasty feeling about this."

"Half a sec." She crouches down beside me, and works on the lock for only a few seconds. "Piece of cake. There you go."

I open the door, and reach inside. Undo the straps around the dog's face. "Better?"

"It's about _time_ ," snaps the dog, and she steps outside the cage, stretches her legs. "Everyone else out, as long as your human knows that sort of lock-work. Start with that cat next to me."

Aglaya stands in the doorway, arms folded. "We're not trying to hide that we've been here anymore?"

"Don't think so." I nod to Sharon, who's still looking unsettled that the dog's begun to talk. "Priorities have changed."

The dog beside me looks up at Aglaya, and her eyes narrow. "She's--"

"With us. Yes. We know."

The dog whuffs out a breath. "Well. If you're aware, then let it be on your head. My name isn't easy to pronounce in this language, but you can call me Duchess. Malakite of Animals, and it's about _time_ someone showed up. The cat next to me is a Cherub I've worked with before, though I didn't expect to meet him under these circumstances. Don't know the cat beyond that, and the one at the far end is, I believe, an ethereal. Couldn't say what type. The cougar over there is one of ours, and a Cherub, though I don't know her. They've been keeping her more heavily drugged than the rest of us. Can you carry her?"

"Between Jack and me, we can manage. Can you tell me how many demons we need to deal with?"

"Two Impudites. Weak ones, I think. They come by each day to drain our Essence. Though..." Goldie sits down, and scratches behind one ear. "They didn't come in at all today. Nor most of yesterday. One Djinn, who may have attuned to some of us. He would bring us into the other room for their tests, but never assist in the testing. And the one in charge, I don't know what. Maybe Balseraph. If so, he never considered us worth lying to."

Jack and Sharon proceed down the row of cages, opening each lock. The cat named as possibly an ethereal spirit darts out the instant its cage is opened, and disappears through the door. Recovering that is low on the list of priorities.

The small dog in the cage with the water dish, no more than half grown, whines when its cage is opened, and cowers back. "The attuned of that Cherub," Goldie says, and trots over to nose at the puppy and comfort it. "An effective means of controlling a dangerous Cherub, to have her attuned at their mercy. He may need to be carried as well."

Jack and I maneuver the cougar out of its cage. Its eyes open slowly as we pick it up, and then close again. "This," Jack says, trying to catch a dangling paw, "is going to be a pain to get out _stealthily_. We can't just drop her over the wall."

"Right." And...they're looking at me to make a decision, aren't they? Even Goldie, peering up at me from where she's still keeping near the puppy. "Okay, here's the plan. Sharon gets the car, brings it around. You and Sharon pack in this Cherub and anyone else who needs a ride, get the hell out of here, while Neski keeps the guard at the gate from noticing anything. Aglaya and I can do a quick sweep of the second office, and then we meet you back at the place I'm staying some time...later. Probably going to take a few hours if we want to be careful and quiet."

"I would prefer to stay and confront those demons directly, now that I have more backup," Duchess says, "but we need to get these to safety first. Your plan is acceptable."

"I think we've already confronted three of them, though I'm not sure which three." I go over the fight in my head. "Probably the two weaker Impudites. They went down quickly. Not sure about the third. Heavy-set, brown hair, and, um, can't say as to what his face looked like. I was distracted at the time, and by the time things slowed down, he didn't have much of a face anymore."

"The Djinn, then. When was this?"

"Yesterday morning."

"Then they may have had time to send in reinforcements, and ones that won't be pleased. Let's hurry."

Sharon's already gone, and by the time Jack and I carry a floppy-heavy cougar the way to the front gate, she's there with the engine running and the headlights off. The guard at the gate gives us a casual wave, and opens a smaller walking-gate from inside the larger one for us to move through. "I can't take care of this guard and the one inside at the same time," the Kyriotate says, leaning out the window of the guard shack, "but I left him well away from the place you were investigating, and I'm watching him through a mouse. I'll jump back in as soon as the car's out of view."

"Understood." Shoving a cougar into the back seat isn't as easy I would have thought, and eventually ends up with both doors open and Jack pushing on one end while I pull from the other. 

When we're done, Duchess leaps into the car with the two cats, and Jack sets the anxiously wiggling puppy down in the back. "Thank you for your help," Duchess says, ducking her head. "I don't expect we'll meet again soon; I need to report to my Superior as soon as we're far enough way to feel safe. May I have your name, to know who to thank?"

"Kai," I say. "Ofanite of Creation. In service to Lightning."

Goldie shakes her head at me. "Lightning? More dishonor on my part, to need rescuing by _them_. But... we have always dealt well with Creation. I'll be grateful to Eli's children."

Jack passes me his skeleton key before getting in. "For the last office. Watch your back, okay?" Neither Aglaya nor I miss the way he glances at her when saying it. "I'll get them out of the way. See you in a few hours."

The Impudite and I step back onto the grounds, and then make all due haste inside so that the Kyriotate can swap hosts around. Neski-mouse greets us at the door to the second office, and climbs up Aglaya's leg to her jacket pocket. Makes a disgusted squeak to discover that the pocket it chose is nothing but decoration, and doesn't extend down far enough to be a comfortable riding spot.

"So," I say, working the talisman into the lock. "Big room full of equipment. Tiny room full of cages of...huh. Not just celestials, apparently. Tests. I'm guessing it has something to do with vessels, and it's a lot easier to get away with strange tests on animal vessels than trying to confine human vessels in a place like this. Any previous clues starting to click together?"

"Slightly. I have a few...ideas." Aglaya watches the corridor, the mouse perched on her shoulder like a reliever. "Possibly they were studying ways of detecting vessels, though that wouldn't be of much use unless they could do it in a more portable manner. Though... no, that wouldn't make sense. If that's all they wanted, they could have thrown a few three-Force demonlings into cheap vessels for study. Trying to cage a Malakite? That's dangerous."

"So they must have had some reason for choosing angels and ethereals." The door clicks open. "Ha! Knew I could manage it. I mean, with a good talisman at hand. Hit the computer while I get the file cabinet?"

Aglaya sits down and turns the computer on. "Let's see if he's stupid enough to keep confidential data on a work computer... If you'll forgive me for saying so, Kai, I like working with you."

"Why would I hold that against you?" Opening the lock is easy enough, but working out how to get the stuck drawer on this file cabinet open is more of a challenge. I finally settle on the brute-force method, and yank it all the way open--off the runners, and I barely manage to catch the drawer before it all falls on the floor. "If anything, I appreciate the compliment. I'm not typical Lightning material, and the way I don't understand science drives Sparkies up the wall." I set the drawer back in its tracks.

Aglaya scoops Neski-mouse off her shoulder, and drops it down in one drawer. "Would you mind taking a quick look for any receipts?" And then to me, "It doesn't bother me. I've always been a generalist myself. A shallow understanding of a broad range of subjects. If anything, it's a relief to not have someone hanging over my shoulder telling me how much better they could do everything I'm working on."

"Unless you decide to take up ballet or the piccolo, I'm unlikely to criticize your technique." I sort through the files for anything with a suitably vague or suspicious name, poking at the thickest files for information hidden inside. Not much worth pulling out for pictures that I can tell. "Okay, maybe on driving, but I prefer to drive and most people let me, so it's not often that I criticize anyone's driving techniques while they're in the process of doing so. That one time with Gamma aside, and I still say she should have signaled before switching lanes, even if we were trying to catch up with that Shedite in the cement truck. Common courtesy, right?"

"I suppose so." Neski-mouse returns from the desk with a slip of paper clenched between its teeth. "Mm. Interesting. Thank you, Domination. Let me see if I can do a search on these numbers..."

The second drawer on the file cabinet comes out with only a bit of coaxing, though it does squeak angrily. "I don't think this guy does much in the way of paper filing, Aglaya. The drawers don't open like they're being used all the time."

"Paper is an archaic method for data storage." Aglaya chuckles. "But it does have the slight advantage that it's far harder to make dozens of copies without anyone knowing the difference... Speaking of making dozens of copies, I think this might be useful. Sent it to the same address to look at later."

Neski-mouse leaps onto Aglaya's shoulder, and begins squeaking urgently. "Company?" I ask, already stuffing folders back into the drawers. The resounding mouse-noise suggests yes. "See if you can stall them with the guard. Aglaya--"

"Shutting down." She leaps up and shoves the desk chair back in, stuffs the invoice back into the drawer. "Which direction--"

The mouse indicates to the right.

I close the door behind me, and stare at it for a moment. It's not the kind of lock you can just turn on the inside doorknob, and the skeleton key may be good for unlocking, but I don't know how to _lock_ anything with it--

Aglaya grabs my sleeve, and shakes her head quickly. Agreed. We dash down to a recessed doorway as footsteps approach at the other end of the hall, press back into that space there. Three sets, by the sound of it.

"--could turn on the lights," Neski-guard says, the voice a low rumble of someone who's accustomed to smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. "So as not to trip on anything--"

"No, thank you." The voice is thin, irritated. "As you can see, I can find my way around in the dark, and my colleague and I will step inside my office. Your dutiful concern for building security and the safety of the inhabitants is well-noted."

"See, it's late, and it's dark, and I was thinking--"

"Then stop thinking, and go do your damn job!" The irate voice hits a certain pitch. And then, "Sorry. Don't know what I was thinking. As you said, it's late, and my friend here came in on a _very_ late flight, it was delayed, but we must go over a few things before tomorrow morning--"

"No, I understand, Doctor." Neski-mouse sniffs indignantly from Aglaya's shoulder as Neski-guard begins to move away. "Didn't mean to bother you. If you'll just let me know you're heading out when you go, so I can make sure there aren't any problems with the alarms--"

"I'll certainly do that." Impatience _pouring_ from that one's words, and ten gives you one that's our demon number four who's just walked in late. With a friend in tow? Reinforcements. But I'm not about to jump two of them with only Aglaya at my side, and my supervisor does get tetchy if I go straight to vessel-slaughter without assessing the situation first. The Sparky cleanup crews get annoyed if I'm calling them out to a second "please justify this triple homicide in a way that won't compromise my Role" incident in a month.

The sound of keys in a door. "The security's pathetic," says the same voice, more quietly, "but just persistent enough to be annoying. If you'll step inside--" And the door clicks shut behind them. A tiny patch of light spreads across the floor, leaking around the edges of the door.

Not a chance I'm letting this opportunity go to waste. Creep sneak pad down the hallway, and I lean against the door, ear to the wood.

...and being able to hear muffled conversation from inside is useless when they're speaking in Helltongue.

Aglaya shuffles over next to me, gives me a questioning look. I shrug, point her at the door.

And find myself trying to pace very quietly while she listens.

The light's still dim enough that I have trouble making out her expressions as she listens in on information I'd like to have. Which raises the uncomfortable but lingering issue that I _can't_ trust her, and I'm going to be relying on whatever information or variation thereof she chooses to pass on. I've already been too proactive around here to hang back and wait for confirmation elsewhere, gotta keep on moving, and while that's my preferred state, it does mean I like planning based on unreliable data.

On the other rim, it can't be as chancy as running around with Windies.

And then she's scrambling past me, and I can take the hint, back down the corridor, around the corner--dead end at the storage room, but we can wait here while they head out the other way, having finished that conversation.

Some quiet comment in Helltongue from the second demon, and Aglaya yanks on my sleeve, mouths, "This way." Points to the door to the room that isn't, in fact, a storage room at all, but full of equipment and several empty cages.

Door unlocked, open, closed, relocked, and I can barely make out the footsteps on the other side of the door. Would dearly like to have Jack at my side right now, he'd _appreciate_ this sort of chance, but Aglaya's getting twitchy, so I duck down behind one of the larger scanning machines with her.

Another key in the door. I'd like to express something creative to these two by means of the dog leash still wrapped up in one of my pockets, but Aglaya's going to have some serious worrying to do if any of them see her, and...well. I'm good, but two versus one, and I don't know how good either of them might be? I'll wait, I'll wait, I'll crouch down here beside her and wait and I suck at waiting. I really do.

The door opens, and the two of them step into the room. Can't see anything from this angle, and Aglaya's gone pale enough for me to notice even back here, so I won't peek around. Yet. No matter how much I might be curious. Wait wait _wait_ and they're still talking as they move to the back room. There's going to be some unhappiness shortly.

Let's see. Sit around in a room that's likely to be searched for hiding cat-ethereals or what not (and where did that one run to? It'll have a hard time getting outside of this building on its own) as soon as they realize everything's missing, or get out of here?

While I'm seldom one to turn down a good fight, I'm fond of an excuse to run. I tap Aglaya on the shoulder, and point to the door. They're already unlocking the cabinet, we're only going to have a moment to ditch once they pass inside before they're heading back out again. She shakes her head quickly, eyes wide.

Neski-mouse pokes her in the neck with its nose, and then scrambles down her jacket to scamper over towards the door. Two to three, and she's outvoted. The cabinet door swings closed, and I'm already on my feet, turn the handle and _out_ of here--

Aglaya's a half second behind me, and--clank. She let the door close too fast.

Bet they heard that.

I scoop up Neski-mouse from the floor and switch from stealthy to _run away _. Sure enough, doors slam inside. Run run run, counting on Aglaya to keep up with me, and it's down this hall right turn down the hall through the arch left the back door open and _out_ onto the grounds. Fraction of a pause outside, just to make sure, and then Aglaya runs out the door, glances around wildly until she sees me.__

__"Can't let them--"_ _

__"See you, right." I grab her hand for the running this time, make sure she's heading in the right direction and I'm not outpacing her. "Neski, anything you can do back there to--no, you don't want to risk that host."_ _

__"Got more," Aglaya gasps, and she can't possibly be getting tired from this fraction of running, I think that's honest fear that's making her words jerk about. "Backup. Two others, don't know _where_ , somewhere outside he said--"_ _

__"Right. Running faster." I deposit Neski-mouse in the pocket without the leash, and take the best route towards wall-road-elsewhere. Which involves dodging a hedge or two, and I swear, I'm getting flashbacks to certain incidents with Jack, Sharon, and Nip, except usually there'd be dogs barking at this point. Or someone shooting._ _

__A chip goes flying off the wall as I get to it, and, right, that would be the shooting. Up and _over_ with a hand to help Aglaya along, not that she can't manage the wall but I wish she'd move a little faster, down between trees and straight for the road. No shouting behind us, and I'm going to call that a bad sign, because it means these people know what they're doing well enough to not bother making a fuss._ _

__Dry leaves and running mean we've abandoned any pretense at sneakiness. Tricky part is getting out of here before anyone gets close enough to compromise either of our Roles, though running around in the dark helps for that. Doesn't help so much for footing, but I can cope, and so far Aglaya's keeping up with me._ _

__She yanks back on my hand. "Car." And there is a dark-colored sedan parked out on the road, right about where we were going to hit. "Can we take that?"_ _

__"Do you know how to hot wire a car?"_ _

__"...no."_ _

__"Neither do I. Better plan." I pull her out to the road, and those are footsteps through the trees behind us, more methodical than hurried, because they can see we don't have any place to go. Plenty of time to acquire a straight shot. My motorcycle snaps into view, and this is the second best toy I have _ever_ been given, and considering how often Jack's been running off with my phone lately, strongly competing for first. "C'mon."_ _

__Neski-mouse is a tiny lump in my pocket, Aglaya has her arms wrapped around my waist, and I'm good to go. I slam out onto the road as they step out from the trees, and if the disturbance from summoning my bike tips them off about us being more than your average human, that's not really my top concern._ _

__Into the city, or away? Too many lights in that direction: away. And the acceleration on this bike is _beautiful_ , cranking up to full speed even as I toss in a bit of swerve to keep anyone trying to shoot at us guessing. Lucky thing that, by the snaps I hear, not the sound of an ordinary gun. Silencer-cough or Vapulan death ray, I can't tell, not my area of expertise. I prefer closer combat. Now, the sound of the car engine back there starting up, and headlights behind us? That I recognize._ _

__Faster and faster, and even having someone behind us can't much reduce how much fun this is. Not often I get to push the bike as fast as it'll go. "I just want to make sure it's clear," I tell Aglaya, voice raised over the wind, "I don't mean to condone riding around without a helmet. But I only have one, and we were in a hurry, so I didn't have time to pass it over to you."_ _

__Her grip around my waist tightens. "... _what_?"_ _

__"I mean, just in general, it's not a good idea to ride with a helmet! That's all."_ _

__"They're shooting at us!"_ _

__"But not hitting us, so we're still fine." Moving in a straight line would be faster, but I'm wiling to sacrifice some speed for a better chance against those bullets. Might need a few more shots than usual to take out your average celestial compared to a human, but a piece of metal through the head will ruin anyone's day. "Keep your head down, I'm going to speed up."_ _

__"What?"_ _

__I'm not sure if that's an inability to make out what I was saying, or disbelief. No matter. I snap off the cover that Mercurian insisted on installing over that one switch, flick the switch, and get a whole new burst of speed. Beautiful. I love Sparkies, and all their toys, and pretty much anything that can get me going this fast. And that's _definitely_ a whimper coming from Aglaya behind me. Neski-mouse is probably glad it can't see the speedometer, even if it can feel the acceleration._ _

__And that shot was a little too close. How are they keeping up? ...Vapulans, right. They're as likely to have tricked out their car as any Sparky, and I need to swerve. "Change of plan," I tell Aglaya. "You holding on?"_ _

__"What?"_ _

__That was trepidation, not confusion. But we're just hitting a stretch of road where--right over there, nice open grassy area leading up to a stand of trees, and no fence. Off the road and onto dry grass, and Aglaya's grip is trending towards painful, but that just means she's really _securely_ on the bike. Well. Really securely holding onto me. _ _

__No surprise that the car follows us off the road, but I'd like to see them try to drive between trees. And, woah, low branch, good thing I had Aglaya put her head down. I push at the Symphony for a bit of help with this, because uneven terrain and a slick dead-leaf carpet don't make an ideal driving surface, and keep my balance._ _

__Even down the incline on the other side of the trees, didn't see _that_ coming, good thing the stream is exceptionally shallow, up the other side, could use a little more light here but the headlights are dropping further back as I go, and then straight out into proper bumpy forest._ _

__I give it about five minutes of near-collisions with trees before I decide we've outpaced them, and slow to a stop. I pull Neski-mouse out of my pocket. "I imagine you could use this Force elsewhere. Is it safe to leave the mouse here, or do you need to return it to where you picked it up?"_ _

__The Kyrio squeaks, and runs down my leg, disappears into the grass. Answer enough._ _

__I put down the kickstand on the bike, remove Aglaya's hands from my waist, and step off. "Now that made the whole night worth it right there."_ _

__She gets off the bike. Stares at me for a moment. Grabs the collar of my jacket. "Are you _insane_? Are you _trying_ to kill me?"_ _

__I grin. "If I were trying to kill you, you'd be dead." And her face that close to mine is a bit on the near side of my personal space, but I don't think this is the time to bring that up._ _

__Didn't expect her eyes to go blank like that, though. She lets go, takes a step back. "Sorry," she says. "It's just..."_ _

__"No offense taken. Haven't driven with an Ofanite who really wants to get somewhere, have you?"_ _

__"Yesterday, when you went to investigate that disturbance--"_ _

__"That was me being diligent in getting there, not trying for speed." I pat my bike. "Besides, this one's much better than your car. Um. I should maybe let you catch your breath before we head back?" Another touch on the Symphony, and there's the back road that'll take me to the city without ever touching the place we just left. "Even if they're running through the trees after us, they're on foot, and we made some distance. There's time."_ _

__"I'll be...fine. Just. Promise you're not going to hit anything?" She wraps her arms around herself, and I wonder if that's her Discord acting up again._ _

__"Hey, wait. Idea." I pop open the bike's storage compartment, pull out the helmet. I pass it over to Aglaya. "Should be close enough to the right size. That make you feel better?"_ _

__"It's going to do terrible things to my hair," she says._ _

__"So you can use the shower in my motel room again. As long as it's available, at least one of us ought to be wearing that, and you're the best choice. If we start to wipe out, I'll have moer warning that it's happening." I reach over to help her out. "Here, this goes on--right, and, here, I'll take care of the chin strap for you."_ _

__"I feel ridiculous in this, Kai." But she settles back on the bike behind me. "Do we need to go through the trees for long?"_ _

__"Nah, there's an old farm road not far from here, and from there I can hit a few other back roads, get all the way back to the city without anyone noticing. Let them go pounding around through the woods all night looking for us. Ready?"_ _

__"Yes." She wraps her arms around me. "Could we go...slower, if that's okay?"_ _

__"Sure." And I do keep it under a hundred once we hit the first road. Long roundabout way back to the city._ _

__No stars to be seen behind the clouds gathering above, and by the time we get back on city streets it's started to drizzle. I don't mind the rain, but Aglaya's shivering now behind me, so I take the fastest route back to the motel. And disappear my motorcycle rather than leaving it in the parking lot, just in case they got too close a look at that. I don't see anyone recognizing Aglaya or me from distant looks at our backs in bad lighting, but Techies probably have good memories for vehicles._ _

__Aglaya hits the shower as soon as we get into the room, while I work up a quick report from my notes, write it out neatly, and then take pictures with my phone to upload to Gariel. Enough of the unexpected happened tonight that I'd like to keep him updated on how these things are progressing. Getting a bunch of angels out of the lab: good thing. Letting the people in the lab know that we're there: bad thing. The information we gathered: unknown. I suspect the next response from my supervisor is going to include lots of words like "investigation" and "caution" and "analysis". I prefer the responses that include phrases like "burn to the ground" and "all due haste"._ _

__A quick rap on the door, and then the lock twists and Jack steps in. "Now that," he says, "was more my idea of a good night. How did your end go?"_ _

__I pass him back the talisman, and tuck away my phone now that the report's been sent. "Good news or bad news first?"_ _

__"Good news first," Sharon says. She locks the door behind her when she shuts it. "Natural order of things."_ _

__"Okay. Good news is we got some more information off the computer from the second office, overheard part of a conversation between two demons--one of them just arrived--and got a count on how many Vapulans are hanging around the lab."_ _

__"Bad news?"_ _

__"Part of the way we got a count was by running out of that place with a few demons in hot pursuit. Managed to avoid getting shot, which is a plus, and the car chase was fun, but they know someone's poking around, and there was disturbance for them to notice, so they're not going to think it was animal rights activists. And on your end?"_ _

__"Got all the beasties unloaded," Jack says, "though it got noisy when that cougar-vesseled Cherub woke up in the back and started panicking, until the others could talk her back down. It's a damn good thing Sharon can do healing, or me and my jacket both would still be a mess. Have you seen the _claws_ on one of those things?"_ _

__"Not corporeal-side, but I imagine they look much the same as in Heaven." Like sitting down in a familiar car to have the both of them smiling at me. "So. That didn't go as planned, but I'm willing to call it a success."_ _

__"If we followed the plan, it wouldn't be half the fun." Jack drops an arm around my shoulder. "Practically like old times, isn't it?" He moves to keep up with my pacing. "We used to have some serious fun."_ _

__"True enough, that. Remember the time when you had to come get Sharon and me out of that tree with all the dogs underneath? I believe the phrase was, 'I'm a Friend of Man, not man's best friend.'"_ _

__"And what did you expect me to do with dogs anyway? Thank God for 24-hour grocery stores with cheap hamburger." He looks down at me, though it's not so far down as it used to be. I think I'm getting used to this vessel. "You could still hitch a ride with us on the way to Memphis, you know. Not like either of us would mind the company, and you were the one who said we needed another angel around."_ _

__"Jack, I have a _job_. Remember?"_ _

__"Come on, Kai. It's not like he's your own Archangel. And you took care of this problem here, right? Give Jordi's angels a few days and they'll come rip the place to shreds themselves. Problem solved."_ _

__"Jack." I pull away from his arm to look him in the eyes. "I have. A. Job."_ _

__"So take a damn vacation. You _used_ to be able to drop things for a week or two to hang out with friends. Remember? You know, back when you were working for your real Archangel?"_ _

__That stings, but I don't think he means it the way it came out. "Look, I need to see this through before I go anywhere, but once it's wrapped up I'll ask for a few weeks off, and--"_ _

__"Ask for a few weeks off? What, now you need to _schedule_ all your breaks?" He's not smiling anymore. Neither am I._ _

__"Yes. If I'm going to run off doing whatever I want, I schedule it. Because it's a different job, and I'm trying to be responsible, Jack. What's the matter with that?"_ _

__"The problem here is that you're working for fucking _Lightning_ when the Word doesn't suit you at all. You're not a Sparky, you're a child of Eli, and you're supposed to be doing his work! Did he ever get into schedules and appointments and asking permission to take a vacation?"_ _

__"This is different!" I don't know why he's saying this, and I want him to _stop_. He's my friend, we're not supposed to argue like this. Not over important things._ _

__"Of course it's different." Jack runs a hand over his hair. "Kai, this is a bad idea. You're working for an Elohite, you're not even one of his own, you _know_ he'll toss you into something you can't handle if he thinks it's for some ultimate good. They're throwing you around alone, it's dangerous, and it's not you. Whatever happened to 'Sure, I'll meet you tonight' and running off to do something fun?"_ _

__"What happened is I joined up with someone who'll tell me what to do." I didn't mean to let _that_ out, it's not exactly what I meant to say, but you can't erase what's spoken, so I move on, pacing around Jack while he stands still and watches. "Look. I lose my vessel, my Role, and then got into that snag with Judgment. It was sign up with someone else on temp work or not get back to Earth at all, what did you expect me to do?"_ _

__"I _expected_ you to come speak with Janus." And he is hurt, I didn't mean to offend, but it didn't work that way, years past late to change my mind or reconsider my decisions. "He would have taken you. You're good with us, Kai, we worked well together. Why didn't you?"_ _

__"He didn't offer." My current Boss isn't my Dad, can't ever be, but he put out his hand and told me I could come to him._ _

__"So, what, it takes a few shiny toys to buy your loyalty?"_ _

__"Jack, you bastard." I stop in front of him, and forget worrying that he's offended, now I can feel my hands curling up beside me. "How can you say that?"_ _

__"What do you expect me to think? You spend months with us, doing the work of the Wind, and then you just ditch us and sign up with Lightning! You were supposed to stay with us, Kai. So if it wasn't the toys, what was it? Your Mercurian ditches you, so now an Ofanite Archangel is too warm and fuzzy? Need to switch to Elohite to get rid of all those unpleasant emotional ties?"_ _

__"At least I know where he is."_ _

__Didn't mean to say that._ _

__I can't deal with this. Don't know what Jack's saying, and that's probably Sharon I hear, but I'm already out the door, downstairs, not the time to call up my bike, just walking. Somewhere. Got to go somewhere else. Walk it off until I don't feel. Like I want to hit Jack. Or myself. Isn't right to feel that way. He's my friend._ _

__It's not supposed to work this way._ _


	17. An Intermission With Wind And Technology

Jack kicked the door after it shut. "And fuck you too, Kai."

Turned around to see Sharon staring at him.

And Aglaya, from the doorway to the bathroom. Didn't know she was there. He glared back at her.

Sharon stood up. "I'll catch up. He could use someone to talk to." And she gave Jack a glare of her own on the way out. "See if you can calm down and be less of a jerk by the time we get back, okay?"

Left the two of them in the room together.

Aglaya turned away from him. Pulled on her jacket. "I should go."

"Heard enough to keep you happy?" And he _could_ hit her. Nobody cares if a Mercurian beats up a demon.

"Why should I be happy? Doesn't sound as if anyone else is." She carried shoes and socks over to the bed. Sat down, and began to put them on. "You ought to apologize."

"What, now the demon's trying to give me lessons on manners?"

"No," she said, not looking up at him. "But I'm good at judging people. He'll forgive you even if you don't apologize. But it won't be the same, unless you do."

"Way too late for things to be the same as they used to be." Jack sat down on the other side of the bed. "Hell. Never should have picked up that thrice-damned Lilim in the first place."

"What--oh. Mannie?"

"Yeah. Or whatever he's calling himself these days." Jack watched his hands twist in his lap. Almost like they weren't his own, of late. "The number of vessels gone through, and Kai's Role, and his entire apartment building burnt down, and...all for that one damned Lilim. Of course Lightning wants to keep him close. Wouldn't want the leash on their pet Bright to get too far out of their control. Not like they care about him at all, they're only _using_ him, and he's not smart enough to see it."

"Or not suspicious enough." Aglaya tied the laces on her second shoe, but didn't stand up. Leaned back against two hands on the bed, to not look at him or anything else. "Aren't Archangels supposed to use their Servitors?"

"Their own, sure. But Kai's not theirs to use. He's supposed to be working for Eli. And if he still were, he'd be...I don't know. Safer. Where he _ought_ to be. Jean's got no right to keep throwing him at things." Jack threw himself back on the bed to stare at the ceiling. Sharon and Kai would be back soon enough, and there would be apologies, and everything would be...smoothed over. But not resolved. Never resolved, these days. "It wasn't worth it."

"What wasn't?" He knew better than to trust the sympathy in her voice.

"Getting that Lilim. Arrogant bastard that he is, and staying safe enough in Heaven, I've noticed. Should've let Kelly slice and dice once we figured out what he was. Or tossed him back to the Game, let _them_ deal with him." Jack shifted to put both arms behind his head. She wasn't going to try anything, and he wasn't afraid of any Impudite. "You know, if anything happened to Mannie, Lightning would lose interest in Kai. Let him go do what he ought to again."

"You think that's likely?"

"Not so long as they keep that one locked up in Heaven, no. More's the pity." Jack remembered who he was talking to. Sat up. "If you--"

"Tell anyone you said that, you'll, what, kill me?" She shrugged. "I wasn't planning on discussing it with anyone. Least of all Kai. It's none of my business." She stood up. "I still think you should apologize."

"What, for telling the truth? Self-delusion is only cute for so long. It's well past time Kai faced reality."

The Impudite met his eyes. Deliberately shrugged. "It's your choice. But if I can make an observation--"

"Don't."

"--you're doing a lousy job of being a Mercurian." An odd little smile. "Believe me. I can tell."

"You know," Jack said, "I could kill you. One of the nice little escape clauses. No dissonance for that."

"Do you think you could manage that? I wouldn't be so certain." She turned her back to him. "Besides. It would upset Kai. You've done enough of that tonight already, haven't you?"

The door shut again. Leaving him alone in a room not his own.

Jack pointed his finger at the door. "Bang. Bang. No more Impudite."

No one else in there to talk to. But if he left, Kai and Sharon might get back and take it the wrong way. And he hadn't meant to...well. Offend. Quite that much. But Nip had told him often enough that the truth could hurt. That was all there was to it. Telling the truth.

He sat there. And waited.


	18. In Which Living In Heaven Does Not Prevent Duplicity

My door hangs half open, so I hear the voices before I see anyone. I had a monitoring system to watch the hallway for a while, but I took it down once Judges stopped making me twitch.

"Maharang. You have grown since I last saw you. How are your classes going?" A voice that's familiar, though I can't place it yet.

"They're fun! I'm learning all about the human stuff on Earth. We were talking about sex and gender stereotypes and expectations today. Really weird, but interesting." And that voice I'd recognize anywhere, named or not.

"You're thinking of going down to Earth duty?"

"Yup yup! I applied for one of the Role-building slots that's opening up in a few months. Nice little arrangement, three relievers doing the kid-parts for the family, Cherub mom to keep track of us, Soldier dad to help us get better with the being-human parts."

"Good luck with that. Is Mannie free? I need to check in with him about something."

"Um. Lemme check." Maharang darts in through the reliever flap it barely fits through anymore, despite the open door. "Mannie, you busy? Judge wants to talk to you, doesn't seem urgent."

"Go ahead and send him in." I've met plenty of Judges over the last few years, so it's no wonder the voice sounded familiar. A moment's time to shut the screen on my computer and turn around. "Nomikos?"

The Malakite settles down into the spare chair in my office, chains clinking. "It's been some time, hasn't it?"

"I haven't seen you since that, ah, incident with Kai. What brings you here today? No, wait, let me guess. You're wondering where Kai is. Doesn't _anyone_ check with his supervisor first?"

"Good guess," Nomikos says. "And we ask you because you're still listed as the primary point of contact for that Ofanite. Having a direct line on the subject in question."

"What do you need to track him down for this time?" If Judgment is concerned about the whole matter of us dealing with Aglaya--not that we've told them, so far as I know--this could complicate matters. I leave one pen twirling in my hand, an old trick for channeling lingering unease into motion so that I can keep it off my face.

"The matter isn't your concern," Nomikos says, and it's a gentler response than most Judges would give me.

"Ah. Perhaps not. But Kai is my concern, and I'd like to know what I'm throwing at him. Approximately. And I'm slightly, ah, surprised that they'd send your triad in his direction. Previous incidents considered."

"I'm not working in a triad these days," Nomikos says, and that puts its own interesting spin on things. The last time I saw him, the Malakite was in a quiet sort of disgrace. Apparently he's worked his way back up into his Archangel's good graces since, and then some. "For this task, my previous associations are one of the reasons I was chosen."

"I see." I set the pen down on my desk. "You could, of course, make an official request for cooperation, sent through the appropriate channels, with all the required paperwork, to acquire Kai's current location."

"And you intend to make me do just that, unless you receive more details?" Nomikos leans back in the chair, arms folded. "That's rather presumptuous."

"I'm neither Elohite nor Judgment, and we're talking about your assignment, not mine."

"Mm. True. And so you are allowed to be subjective." The Malakite unfolds his arms. "Very well. To begin with, it's not actually Kai who's being investigated. We're looking for a Mercurian of Wind--"

"Jack. Dissonant and ditching his friends, last I heard."

This does stop the Judge short. "You know about that?"

"One of his friends came in here asking after Kai's location for much the same reason. To take action before it came to the attention of your Superior. I take it Jack's slid all the way over into Outcast?" I was never fond of that Mercurian, and the feeling's been made mutual over time, but I don't like to think of what finding this out will do to Kai.

"He has." Nomikos sighs. "It's never good to discover such things, but...better than to not discover it. I'm supposed to bring him back to Heaven before this can get worse. Kai's the most likely to know where we can find him, or be able to contact him, now that Jack's dropped out of contact with other Servitors of the Wind."

"According to his latest report, they're in the same area. Won't last for long, given Wind's dissonance conditions." I find a blank sheet of paper to write out Kai's current address. "I don't gather why they'd send you on this assignment, though."

"There's some concern that Kai would attempt to protect its friend from being returned to Heaven, especially if approached by angels it doesn't know, or more, mm, aggressive Judges. We met weekly for decades, and it knows me well. Kai's inclined to trust my judgment if it should come to that." He takes the bit of paper I've given him, and reads it over. "No useful Tethers in the area. I'd better get moving. Thank you."

"Certainly. Good luck."

After he leaves, I shut the door, and look up at Maharang, who's been perched on the top shelf of my bookcase all along. "I'm about to be duplicitous. You might want to leave if this will bother you."

"No, I'll stay. They said in classes that you need to know when it's appropriate to mention certain information to certain people, and I might as well get some experience."

"Perhaps." I pull out my phone and call Kai.

"Hey, Mannie, what's up?"

I'm not used to the new vessel's voice yet, but the inflection is distinctly that of my Ofanite. "Trouble. Get somewhere private for a minute?"

"Sure." There's a brief mumble in the background as Kai excuses himself from wherever he's been seated, and then, "What kind of trouble?"

"Jack's gone Outcast. There's a Judge heading your way to pick him up."

"...oh." And there's exactly the hurt in that one word that I'd hoped to avoid, but it's not my fault. Damn Jack for dragging my chipper little Ofanite down into unhappiness. "How soon?"

"I'm not sure. Not for hours yet. He mentioned not being able to get there directly. How much longer will Jack and Sharon be staying?"

"We were planning on stopping by this one guy's house today. Director of the center, looks like he was getting paid off to look the other way... They don't need to leave until tomorrow night." He sighs. "I was afraid of something like that. Just...didn't expect it. Do you know who they're sending?"

"Nomikos. I'm sure you remember him."

"Of course! It's been way too long. I'd--well. I'd be glad to see him under other circumstances. This is _not_ going to be fun. But Jack's pretty reasonable, so it's not like...he'd do anything stupid, right?"

I consider what I know of Jack's intelligence, impulse control, and habits of late. No reassuring predictions come to mind. "One would hope not. Kai, you might want to keep Aglaya out of the way when Nomikos is around. Judgment has its opinions, and even if we have her under control..."

"Understood. I'll see what I can do. It's...I don't know. It's been a long day. But I'll do my best."

"I wouldn't expect any less of you. Call if you need to talk, okay?"

"I will."

I put my phone away again, and look up at Maharang. "Ah, but what simplicity and honesty we find in Heavenly politics. What do you think?"

"It's weird to tell Kai to hide something from another angel. But... I guess I can see why it's necessary." The reliever drops down to sit cross-legged on my desk. "Does that come up often?"

"Now and then. More with some organizations than others. The Wind doesn't tell people it's planning on swiping their property, War keeps its battle plans secure, and Lightning... Well. We do spend an awful lot of time _not_ giving mortals what we've discovered and created. Not until it's the right time." I pick out the notebook I've been working on most recently from the stack on my desk. "I imagine it's difficult for Seraphim."

"I don't think I could ever be a Seraph," Maharang says. "A little too weird, all that...knowing."

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" I leave the door open behind me, in case anyone wants to drop off files while I'm out. "Still want to be a Bright Lilim?"

"I know I can't be. Doesn't stop me from the wanting." The reliever flies beside me, butterfly-wings sparkling in the light of the halls, and no signs of moving towards one Choir or another. "I admire Elohim, especially with the Boss being one, but I'm not sure I could manage that. It seems so hard, making every decision carefully. I don't know. Got a few Forces left to figure it out, though. What do you think I should be?"

"I'm not the one to make that decision, Maharang." Nosha's office is empty, oddly enough, so I continue without it. "I understand that it's a very personal matter."

"I know. But if you did get to choose, what would you tell me to be?"

Dissonant Mercurian Jack, with a quick smile, a habit of cheating badly at games of poker, and pockets full of anything he could get his hands on. Who picked me up when I was standing by the side of the road, terrified the Game would find me. Convinced Kelly not to kill me then and there. Introduced me to Kai. And now he's being pulled back into Heaven for fear that he might otherwise Fall. "Malakite. I'd tell you to fledge Malakite."

"I though you didn't like Malakim, boss. I mean, not like you really dislike them, but... they're not your favorite Choir, right? Why would you want me to fledge like that?"

I step out into the sunlight. "Is that Nosha up ahead?"

"Sure is! I'll go let it know you're back there, and we can all get coffee together." Maharang darts ahead to catch up with the Elohite, its question forgotten. Or so I can hope.

Nosha waits for me to catch up. "On break?"

"I needed to get out for a while. Kai has, as usual, become tangled up into complex affairs through sheer accident. Did you read the latest report?"

"Indeed. I liked the bit with the car chase. Trust Kai to put the most care and detail into the part where it gets to move quickly." Nosha has a thin tablet computer tucked under its arm, and, I realize, isn't moving towards the place where we get coffee.

"And what sends you trekking off through Heaven?" I change my path to follow along, at least for the moment.

"I'm taking a gift to Ling." Nosha grins at me. "She could use a welcome present from Lightning. We wouldn't want Flowers to get entirely through her head, and even an amnesiac ex-Vapulan deserves a computer. Want to come along?"

"Certainly." Seeing Ling again will be strange, but...reassuring, I think.

"Who's Ling?" Maharang demands, dropping down to ride on my shoulder. "Why are we going to go see Flowers?"

"Ling is a new Seraph," I say, "and smaller than you are. What do you expect her to do with a computer, Nosha?"

"I filled half the drive with picture books on various flora and fauna," the Elohite says. "They can't object to that. And the rest of the space is for some of the more intuitive graphics-creation programs we have available."

"How devious of you. I approve."

"If she has any potential at all--and I suspect she does, from what I've heard, even if she never made a competent Vapulan--then she ought to be somewhere useful. Not in Flowers." Nosha scratches Maharang between the wings. "Don't look so distressed, I'm not saying Flowers can't be useful. Only that we could make better use of certain talents."

We end that line of conversation before entering the Glade, and track down Ling. She's sitting on the roof of a little gazebo made of dark wood, and drops down to greet us as we approach. "You came back," she says, and rushes in as quickly as any reliever towards me, but stops short and only ducks her head. "Thank you. You have a reliever with you! I like relievers."

The deer-Cherub descends from the roof more slowly, and nods to us. "Come to say hello?"

"And to bring Ling a present," Nosha says. It passes the tablet over to the little Seraph. "I think you might like this."

"Oh. It's shiny!" Ling turns the tablet over a few times, and then presses the power button. "I like it. What does it do?"

"You can read the books on it. Or draw, even. Here, I'll show you." Nosha withdraws to the steps of the gazebo, Ling flapping along beside it, and Maharang flits in that direction to watch the proceedings.

The Cherub looks up at me. "An interesting gift," she says. "But about what I'd expect from your Word. Your idea?"

"Not mine, no." We move further away, and I drop my voice. "I believe Nosha would like to steal her away from you. It thinks that former Vapulans should naturally wish to join Lightning."

"Oh, does it?" She sounds more amused than offended. "Well, it's welcome to try. Ling will appreciate the company. I don't think she's well-suited to your Word, but as she grows wiser, she's the one who'll have more to say in that direction. What do you believe?"

"I believe she's happy where she is. But as you said, as she grows up..." I shrug. "I don't know how interested she'll be in investigating her old life, or in rejecting any traces of it. I've seen it go either way. Here I am in Lightning, and I can't imagine being anywhere else... But Lin serves the same Word as you do, and she once worked for Malphas."

"How things change," the Cherub says, and watches protectively as three heads, Elohite, Seraph, and reliever, bend over the tablet. "May they ever change for the better."


	19. In Which The Difference Between Humans And Celestials Matters Greatly

Sharon draws patterns on the inside of the car window, fast sweeping lines and slower curves. Not looking at the Impudite sitting beside her, or at either of us in the front seat. I think she's more upset about that argument last night than I am, but I've never been one to hold something like that against a friend. So Jack's not happy that I signed up with Lightning: I can deal with that. Sorta knew that for a while now, and even when I made the decision, though I hadn't realized how much it bothered him. Still, we've disagreed over issues before, and if not so strongly... I'll deal. And he'll have to learn to deal.

Now, finding out that he's gone Outcast? That bothers me.

I ought to tell Sharon, but finding a way to speak with her privately hasn't been in the cards. I ought to talk to Jack about it, but we've been not talking about anything but business today, and... okay, so I ought to talk to Jack about it, but I don't want to. Not yet. Maybe once I've had longer to get over some of what he said last night.

So Jack and I aren't talking, Sharon's not talking to Jack or to me right now, and Aglaya's staring out the window. Makes for a quiet drive.

"I wish it would stop raining," she says, and I think it's more to break the silence than because she cares about the weather. A Mercurian and an Impudite in the same car... You'd expect any social awkwardness to be from the two of them trying to kill each other. I'd be more comfortable if they were, it would something to focus on.

"Nothing wrong with rain," Sharon says. Crosses all the lines she's made with new ones. "Reduced visibility can be useful. Though wet grass is harder to run on without slipping."

I crank up the windshield wipers one step further. "Reduced visibility would be more useful if we were, say, trying to _hide_ this car, as opposed to just trying to drive. It's not that I'm taking this man's decision to live so far outside the city personally, but-- Okay, the speed limit is _not_ thirty-five miles per hour. It's a bit of water! What are these people slowing down for? Turn on your headlights and don't hit any glowing red lights in front of you."

"Relax," Jack says, and tilts his seat back far enough that Aglaya frowns at the intrusion on her space. "We'll get there when we get there. Director of the center, he's not going to show up at his house during a work day whether it's one in the afternoon or two when we arrive."

"Shouldn't even _be_ this much traffic in the middle of the day." I take the first gap I can see in the line of cars to my left, splash past the timid driver who was ahead of me. "And trying to get through his personal files without leaving drippy marks on the floor... I think we've ditched subtlety again. Once in a while, it would be nice to do a job that's sneaky all the way through. Sneak in, sneak out, information gathered, none the wiser. Not because I'm fond of that type of work, but because I'd prove I'm _capable_ of doing sneaky."

"Hey, we did that one warehouse in--" Sharon pauses, and frowns. "No, that was the one where you were distracted by the jazz band at the time. You're right. You can't do sneaky to save your life."

"And thank you for _that_ vote of confidence." I slide back over into the right lane, and nearly side-swipe a car in the process, because half these people are going sixty and the other half are going thirty. "Forget sneaky, we'll go for thorough. Don't know how much that director knows, but if they've been paying him off, I don't have much sympathy for him, and certainly not enough to feel bad about leaving wet footprints across his floor." I tap the rearview mirror to catch Jack's face again, now that he's leaning further back. There's an art to using that mirror for complete in-car surveillance.

"If we broke into the house because we needed the information, but didn't think he'd done anything wrong, you would feel bad about leaving wet footprints on the floor?" Aglaya shifts in her seat to be less directly behind Jack, which leaves her leaning towards Sharon.

"I'd try to clean up before leaving."

"You're using an awful lot of 'we'," Jack says. His eyes are closed, one arm propped behind his head, casual voice, and I don't trust any of that. "Why are we keeping you around anyway?"

"To keep an eye on me?" The Impudite's voice has gone bone dry. "To translate Helltongue for you, feed you information, provide additional backup. Take your pick. I try to remain useful."

I find myself on the exit stuck behind someone who's taking all the _Slow, Curve_ signs seriously. Not a day for moving fast. "That, and you have a chance of understanding what the data we're looking at means, should we find any. Unless anyone else in the car picked up a degree in biochemistry while I wasn't looking?"

"Slept through most of biology, myself," Sharon says. "It was at the point where we began to study the life cycle of some undersea polyp that I realized this was information I was never going to need, use, or care about." She frowns thoughtfully. "If this turns out to be all about polyps, won't I feel silly now?"

We have to count from visible street numbers to find the house we want, as most are invisible in the rain. Walls, hedges, tall fences... Every house on this street has closed itself off from the sidewalk. On his it's a wrought-iron fence, easy to see through. The closed garage door doesn't offer any hint about a car at home or not, but all the lights are off. As long as we're not trying for subtle... I park along the curb in front of the house. "Front door or back?"

"Back door," Jack says, and climbs out of the car into the rain.

We're all soaked by the time Jack gets the door open, standing around in the rain while he mutters out curses. Security system, a good lock, and a deadbolt beside, and I don't know why he won't use the talisman. I gave it back. Something to do with pride, I guess. Doesn't want to admit that he needs any help with one of his talents.

Then we finally stumble inside a dark living room, out of the rain. "Next time I'm packing waterproof boots," Sharon says, and she shakes water out of her hair. "Pity the Song of Healing doesn't work on head colds. I suspect I'm going to have a nasty one soon. Please tell me it'll be warmer in Memphis."

"Wouldn't know. Never been there in November before." Jack turns on the light, and glances around. "So we want... what, offices? Anything with a computer in it."

"Computers, file cabinets, diaries, stacks of old receipts, anything that might be useful. Until we track down where any of those demons are living, this is our best route. I hope he knows something, and isn't being paid off in a vague way." I start looking into rooms, and try not to wonder if either of them will hit Memphis before Judgment shows up. I shouldn't be worried about Judgment showing up, because they're _just_ , they're not going to...overreact. But Jack won't be happy about that, no matter how easy they go on him, because they're not going to tell him to go work it off and then leave him be, not with that much dissonance rattling around. Nomikos is reasonable, and, well, maybe he can do more to talk Jack into reason than I could. Jack never listened to me anyway, not since we fledged. I wasn't the smart one.

I go through kitchen dining room second living room guest room bathroom linen closet storage space back to the first living room. It's going to be...not good, but okay. Nomikos will show up, Jack will get sulky and start insulting people, but they'll get back to Heaven and someone who's better at this than I am will _fix_ things and it'll...be okay again. Eventually. Sharon will be annoyed I didn't tell her, but she's well-centered and able to deal with unexpected events, I can track down Nip and the two of them can wreak havoc across the country together until Jack's got his head sorted out. Just need to keep focused on this job in the meantime.

I wish Mannie were here. He always knows what to do when things get complicated.

"Heading upstairs," I tell Jack, and I wish he'd stop watching Aglaya and start _looking_ like Sharon and I are, because this would go much faster with four people poking around, or even three, but she's standing at a window looking out at the rain, arms folded, and he's just...watching her. I mean, I'll grant the untrustworthy part, but there are better things to do with his time than to make sure a nervous Impudite isn't doing anything nefarious.

The stairs are carpeted, it's even _white_ carpet, and I still feel a bit guilty leaving a damp footprint on every third stair. Flip on the hallway light, and I begin checking doors. Bathroom, library, bedroom--locked. Okay, that's a good sign. I can drag Sharon up here to fiddle with the lock, and if Jack wants to glare at the Impudite, fine, it'll give us a few minutes together where I can run through the situation with her. She deserves to know. I've never been the sort to keep things from Soldiers just because they're human; if they've signed on to fight in this war, they deserve as much information as they can take, the better to deal with what situations they encounter. 

"I don't know who you are," says a voice behind me (and how did I _not_ hear him approaching?), "but just...just put your hands up. And turn around. I'm not afraid to use this!"

I could probably duck, slam him against the wall, and do some serious damage with anything on hand before he has a chance to shoot me, but Dad's unlikely to approve of that kind of reaction to a mortal in over his head. So I put my hands where he can see him, and turn around slowly enough to not spook the guy. He's about my height, in a bathrobe, gun pointed at my head. Well past middle-aged, and I think he'd look distinguished if he were dressed professionally. I should have checked the garage for cars before heading upstairs.

The hand holding the gun is shaking, and it would be so _easy_ to--no. Going to wait a minute and see what I can get out of him while he still thinks he's in control. "We found out," I say, and no more specification than that needed, it's enough to see the wash of guilt over his face. "Did you think no one would?"

"I didn't--I don't know what you're talking about." He's speaking loudly enough that they must be able to hear him downstairs, though I'd rather not have interference yet. A man unaccustomed to combat won't pull that trigger quickly, and at this range I could slap his arm out of the way faster than he could make that decision.

"What, you don't think anyone ever checks financial records? Or wonders how certain people got hired so fast, out of nowhere? It doesn't cost much to get you to approve a few new lab assistants that don't ever seem to work with any but one doctor." And now I'm guessing, but the way he's turning pale and sweaty in this cold house suggests I'm not far off the mark. I suppress the urge to bounce on my heels, because I'd rather not get shot by spooking him. "You haven't been walking a thin line, you're falling off the edge of the cliff. You're going to hit the ground. Real question is how soon, and how hard."

"You can't prove anything." It's a perfect wash of horror across his face when he realizes that wasn't the right thing to say. "I mean--I didn't do anything. Always had my suspicions about those two, but I never had enough evidence to bring it up against them, but I've been... I've been collecting evidence, I was just going to bring it to the authorities as soon as I was _sure_. That's all."

"Drop it." That's Sharon at the end of the hall, her gun out, and this is _not_ the direction I wanted to go, not when I was halfway to getting information out of him. "Now."

"Sharon--"

I duck before his finger tightens, plaster exploding away where my head used to be, but now he's pulling the trigger again as I take him down to the floor, that was _Sharon_ shooting just now and while I appreciate the help more bullets aren't the kind of help I need right now, I twist his gun away and slam him once across the head with it--

Maybe too hard, because that's disturbance, but he's not _dead_ , only glassy eyed, so I stand up and turn around--

Get to Sharon just as Jack and Aglaya hit the top of the stairs, and I can see the way his eyes go wide and he turns towards the man crumpled in the center of the hallway--

" _Don't_." I've never heard my voice so sharp before, it's enough to even stop him mid-run, and he drops down beside me, Aglaya's already down on the floor trying to stop the bleeding.

"He shot--"

"He's human, Jack. You can't deal with it. I will." Don't know why I sound so calm, I'm _not_ , my hands are turning red and Sharon's making noises that aren't supposed to be coming from _her_ while she's down on the floor, bleeding. She's not the one who's supposed to bleeding. Humans are so fragile, they're not supposed to be the ones who get shot, that's my job, I can get another vessel if I need to.

"Do either of you have any Songs--"

"Sharon's the one who has Healing," I tell Aglaya, and I am being...calm. I can think my way through this. "Jack, Aglaya. Get Sharon to the car. I'll meet you there by the time you can get her in the back seat."

"I'm not going to--"

"Shut up and _do it_ , Jack." I dart down the hallway, kick the feet out from under this pathetic deadly man as he tries to get up again. "No, you're not going _anywhere_." Belt around the bathrobe is enough to tie his hands, and I drag him into the bedroom at the end of the hall. "Anyone else coming home in the next few hours?"

"I didn't mean to--"

"Shut up. It's one question, just answer it."

"No. No, I live alone, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it, I didn't mean to do it..." He dissolves into sniveling, and I stuff him in the closet securely fastened with what bindings I can make out of various cords in the closet.

"If you don't mean to shoot someone, you don't point a gun at them and pull the trigger."

Pointless to say that to a closed door. I shove the bed in front of the door for good measure, and then downstairs, quick pause to grab Sharon's dropped gun on the way, outside out the front door (they left it hanging open, I close it behind me to keep down suspicion from the neighbors), out the gate in the fence (close that behind me, don't want anyone to stop by and find him while we're gone), drop into the driver's seat and turn the engine on. Aglaya climbs into the front seat from the back, and all her hands are covered in blood, I hit the gas as soon as Jack has the back doors closed.

Not paying much attention to stop signs and red lights now.

I have a straight and true line to the nearest hospital, further than I'd like but not terribly far, I will be there as quickly as God grants me the speed to be. "How's she doing?"

"Breathing," Jack says. Hands pressing down as if he could hold all the blood inside her. "It's--fuck, Kai, why did you stop me? He _shot_ her!"

"And we're getting her to the hospital fast as we can, and you're a _Mercurian_ , what do you think you were going to do? He's not going anywhere. We can deal with him once Sharon's safe." I skid over onto the shoulder of the highway to get around slow traffic, no time for patience or traffic laws right now. "How is she?"

"Still breathing. Still bleeding, she just keeps _bleeding_ , I don't know how to stop this." His own breath's gone ragged around the edges, as if parts of it were torn away when she was shot. "Her eyes are closed, I don't thinks she's conscious. Or not very."

I pull the phone out of my pocket, and toss it into Aglaya's lap. She starts when it hits her. "Call. 911. Let them know we're bringing someone in."

"What should I tell them?"

"Gunshot wounds. Obvious anyway. We'll work out how to deal with the fallout later. Call." 

She stabs out the numbers, waits for the pickup. "My friend's been shot. We're bringing her into the hospital, can you make sure they're ready for her?" Waits for some answer on the other end. "No, we're already on our way, it's faster--" She looks at me.

"Five minutes." The gas pedal is already floored, I can barely keep the car from skidding in the water at this speed. "Four. I can make it in four."

"We'll be there in four minutes. What should we--" Aglaya nods, as if it would do any good. "Right. Thank you. We will." Hangs up the phone, deposits it back in my pocket. "When we get there, we can let the nurse in charge of triage know."

"Let her _know_? What, they aren't even going to have someone waiting?"

"I don't know, Jack. That's what the operator said to do."

"That's insane, they ought to--"

"Shut up." Both of them look at me. "Just... I'm trying to drive, okay?" Two inches is enough clearance for sliding behind that car, then across to _that_ lane, time to hit city streets down this exit across three lanes to turn right and some part of me says oh look the sign says no right turn on red but I am _driving_ and. I don't have time to listen to that. Or to them.

Three and a half minutes from when I gave the estimate, to get to the hospital.

Aglaya's out of the car running before I've fully stopped, couldn't stop _too_ fast, don't want to throw Sharon around, and then there are people with equipment and Jack and I follow, all the way back until they say no further ever so politely, they don't need us in the way, and then it's

to the waiting room.

I'm not good at waiting.

Aglaya meets us there, hands washed clean, and the front of her shirt is wet from where she scrubbed it but still stained red, hasn't even dried enough to turn brown yet. My hands are bloody. Wiped them off on my pants, I think, don't remember when, but there are the streaks across the denim. All three of us a pack of bloody waiters. Other people in this room to wait, and we catch a few glances, but all those eyes keep sliding off us, and I can't blame them for it. No one wants to take part in anyone else's tragedy. We all have our own.

I pace a five-point star, vending machines and the ends of the row of seats where Aglaya and Jack sit. At opposite ends, and they're not looking at each other, and they're not looking at me, and none of us doing anything useful. Nothing at all.

The room empties. Just the three of us.

"Would you just sit _down_?" Jack still isn't looking at me, but he says, "It's messing with my head. Sit still. For a few minutes."

I sit down beside Jack. Try not to mind what he said.

And a man walks in from outside, taller than me and heavier on the muscle, stops to stare at us. When he reaches up to scratch the back of his head, his jacket sleeve slides down to show tattooed flames on his wrist. "Kai?"

It's a relief to leap up. "Don't think I know you..."

"Theo," he says. "The Boss sent me." He takes a quick look around the room. "They were supposed to tell you I was coming--"

"Right. Got the message, a little mangled, and then Gariel mentioned something. Didn't really specify."

"Backup?" Jack's still staring at the floor. "That's great. Talk about a day late and a dollar short. Couldn't have arrived two hours ago, no, it has to be now."

"What happened?" Theo reaches out to take my hand, and it's a brief odd moment to realize he's attuning to me. So they've sent me a Cherub. "Who's hurt?"

"Sharon. Got shot. It was a stupid accident--"

"Wasn't an accident," Jack says. "He didn't go, oh, oops, here's a gun, I've accidentally pulled the trigger. He pointed it at her and _shot_ her. And the only reason he managed was because Sharon's not the sort to shoot someone without better cause. Wish she had."

Theo nods quickly. "The Soldier of the Wind? If you can get me over there--"

And we all stop when the doctor walks into the room. Because she's looking at us, and that's not relief on her face. Holds a clipboard in front of her like a shield. "I'm sorry," she says. "But we couldn't save her."

If there's more explanation I don't think I'm hearing it. I'm not sure I'm hearing much at the moment.

She's not the one who's supposed to get hurt. Any of the rest of us can run through vessels, have done so before. I could take that gunshot anywhere but through the head and only be seriously annoyed. It's not even her job. They were doing me a favor.

And how do humans deal with it? Only having the one chance on Earth, to hit destiny or fate and live out all they wanted to do?

I'll see her in Heaven. I'm nearly sure of it. I want to be as sure of it as I am that my Dad's missing for a reason, but I can't manage that yet. 

The doctor's stopped talking. And there's something in there about the police, but Aglaya speaks gravely to him, and I think we don't have to worry about that. Not just yet. I would criticize her use of the Impudite resonance except right now I don't think I can bring myself to care about something so unimportant.

"I'm sorry," Theo says, but he's speaking to me, not to Jack, and isn't that who everyone ought to be worried about? "If I'd known--I would have tried to come faster, if I'd known--"

"You couldn't have." I wonder if he's in charge now. I'd prefer that, if he could be in charge. He could be calm and focused and figure things out and I could go start screaming, somewhere. I'd like that right around now.

"I ought to call her mother," Jack says. More blank-voiced than I would have expected, but I've never been in this sort of situation with him before.

I take out my phone, pull up the appropriate menu entry. I haven't used it much, but having the number available for when Sharon needed to call was...useful. When I was still traveling with her. "Here." Theo looks like he's about to protest at me handing the phone off to someone else, but he's a Sparky, which means he's not a complete idiot, and he...doesn't.

"Thanks." Jack walks out of the room. Somewhere private. Wouldn't mind some privacy myself. Don't think that's happening.

Three of us in the room again, though the composition's changed, and the Cherub gives Aglaya a quick, sharp look. "We need to speak privately," he tells me. "But it's not urgent. What happened?"

"Searching for information. Misjudged the situation." I'm only pacing around him now, one single useless circle of motion. "Usually when I screw up this badly I'm only getting myself into trouble. Should've grabbed the gun as soon as I saw it. Thought I could get more information out of him by waiting. Stupid of me."

"We can go into details later," says Theo. Gently, like he's afraid I'm going to do something worse if he presses too hard. Like I could screw up harder than I have already. "What happened to the one you were getting information from?"

"Human. Still alive. Tied him up, stuffed him in the closet... I was in a hurry. We can go pick him up and find out what he knows next, I guess. As soon as Jack gets back."

Aglaya stands up. "I don't know Jack well," she says, quietly, "but it does occur to me... Are you sure he's going to call and then come back here? He seemed...very fond of her, I think."

"Oh," I say. And, "Oh _damn_ let's find him."

Not in the next room over, the restroom, the other waiting rooms, the hallways, and finally we find someone who says yes, saw someone like that heading outside, thank God that Jack's got a distinctive look to him. Odd that there'd be no police at all here yet, but maybe Aglaya's been Charming more people than I noticed.

"The car's still here," Aglaya says.

"Like that means anything?" I unlock the doors, wonder vaguely what Theo's been doing that he's only now getting wet in this drizzle. "Jack's usually considerate enough to steal a car with the keys in it if he knows I'll be driving, but do you think a Mercurian of the Wind can't get from a full parking lot to a place he wants to go?"

Aglaya takes the back seat, and I'm out of the parking lot before she's closed the door. The turn into the street sends her falling onto the blood-covered fabric, and she snaps out a curse in Helltongue. I hadn't heard her speak that before, and it shouldn't feel nearly so...unlike her, as it does. "Sorry," she says, and shudders. "I'm not...used to this sort of thing."

Some day, driving like this will get me pulled over. But not today. Two collisions on the way back block off portions of various streets, and I find even I can't get through any faster than traffic will allow. No great comfort that Jack's stuck in it too.

By the time we get back to that house, the rain's cleared.

A car sitting in front of the house, driver's side door open, engine still running. Front gate's open. Front door's open. There's no point in running when we go up the steps.

And if there's a patch of blood on the top of the steps where Sharon was lying, along the side of the wall where she fell back and slid down, it can't compare to the red-painted walls.

In the bedroom, Jack's sitting on the bed. What's left of the body at his feet. He passes me back my phone when I sit down beside him. Leaving Aglaya and Theo in the hall, as if the illusion of privacy would do us some good.

"Jack--"

"Don't worry." He puts an arm over my shoulders. "He wasn't human."

"But the disturbance--"

"There's this one attunement the Game gives out, Kai. Weirdest thing I ever ran across. Can make even a demon seem like a human to the Symphony for a few hours, for disturbance. Ran into that once before."

"But..." I try to puzzle it out, and it's not making sense. "Why would the Vapulans be paying off the Role of one of Asmodeus's people?"

"I don't know. Guess it's one more bit of the investigation for you to deal with. But believe me, he wasn't human. I would know, right?" And he offers me a quick smile.

It's not that Jack's never lied to me, but he wouldn't about something this important. "Right. You would know. Just...dammit, Jack. Not getting any information out of him now." That's not my biggest complaint, but it's one I feel safe expressing.

"Like you'd be able to make one of those talk? He didn't have a chance to tell anyone about us. We can do a thorough check of the house. Get all the data you need, and then get out of here before anyone shows up."

"I guess." I don't like looking at what's on the floor in front of me, so I stare out the window, where even through the angled blinds I can make out blue stretching its way through the clouds. "I should've grabbed the gun as soon as he got to me. I shouldn't have waited."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Kai. You couldn't have known what was going to happen." He sounds more tired than blank now. "You can give someone upstairs a call tomorrow and like as not Sharon will want to know why she can't come back as a Saint right away."

"Yeah. Probably."

Aglaya steps into the room. Carefully doesn't look at the floor. "I took care of the signs of entrance outside. We ought to have some time to search the place."

"Oh. Yeah." I stand up, hands in my pockets like keeping them still will help. "Got to...find files. If he had any."

Jack shrugs. Kicks some bit of body out of his way as he moves to the door. "I'll leave you to it. None of my business. I ought to go talk to Sharon's mother in person. I can get there by tomorrow afternoon if I leave now."

I ought to be trying to keep him here. "Send me a message after you do? Just to...let me know how it goes. Toss it up any Tether, they'll get it to me."

"Okay." He stops in the doorway, and pulls out that silver key. "Here," he says. "Might as well keep this. Only held onto it for when Sharon needed some help."

"Thanks."

We stare at each other. What am I supposed to say? Jack, try not to pick up any more dissonance. Jack, one of my friends is going to be hunting you down to take you back to Heaven. Jack, you're allowed to tell me how much this hurts.

"I'll catch you around," he says. And leaves.

In the hall, I open up the locked door with that handy little talisman, and begin going through the files stacked on the desk. A moment later, Theo joins me.

"I left the demon searching the lower areas of the house," he says. "I don't think she'll run now, and I can find her if she does. This would be a good time to talk."

"It's a lousy time to talk, but since when has that stopped anyone?" I shut the door. Harder than I intended. "And, what, you're attuned to her now too?"

"Of course not." The Cherub sounds downright offended. "I have an artifact to track her, courtesy of one of the hooks that Bright Lilim holds on her."

"Huh. Okay." I don't want to be in this house with Aglaya and Theo. I want Mannie here, and Nosha and Zif, people I know and I can trust. I want my old triad back to ask me stern questions about my recent activities, if only so I could tell them how badly I've done. "It's no wonder they sent you here. I can't manage anything."

Theo's expression turns more concerned than anything else. "What happened? I got a full briefing before heading out, but that was two nights ago. The last I heard you didn't have your phone back."

"Um. Well. Did you hear about those demons Aglaya and I jumped, after they took out some human a Kyriotate was watching? Turns out they were connected with the lab. So we grabbed the Kyrio and went in to scout out the place--I mean, with Jack and Sharon--and found a bunch of animal-vesseled angels who were being trapped there, plus an ethereal, so we let those out, and then we had to make a run for it, but we found out about this guy, and..." I can't possibly go over everything right now. "Could we talk about this later?"

"We can talk about it later."

"Good. But... I'm glad they sent someone. I'm not doing so well on my own." I push papers around on the desk, no idea if any of it might be important. "Almost surprised they didn't send someone with me when the Boss gave me this vessel. I don't have the best track record."

"Kai, I've seen your records. What parts of it aren't still classified. You've been doing an excellent job. They didn't send me here because they thought you'd be messing up, they sent me because you're working alongside a demon. You don't do something like that alone."

Any other day, I might be gratified to know they don't think I'm a screw-up. Today I only nod and drop down into the chair. It spins, and I could use some spinning right now. "I don't know what her game is. I'm not sure she does. There has to be more to it than some lingering fondness for Lightning, with her going to all this trouble."

"Maybe there is. Maybe there isn't. In any case, she seems to be a valuable source of information. If she continues to offer us more in the future, all the better." He has a comfortable voice. A bit like Zif's when she goes into counselor-mode at Mannie. I wonder if they teach all the Lightning Cherubim to do that, in classes or something. Cherubing 101: voices to reassure distraught attuned.

"In the future, I'd like to drag her to a Tether and see if anyone can shout some sense into her." The spinning is soothing, and it keeps me from needing to think about certain things. "Though what the Boss can do about all the Geases she's covered with, I don't know."

"Kai. It might be more useful to leave her be."

"What?" I can't possibly have heard that right.

"She's not a good redemption candidate. Covered in Geases, as you said. Already Fell once, and there's no sign that she's addressed the issues that led her to that. Stated she doesn't want to be a Mercurian again. Would you spend much effort coaxing any other demon with those problems towards redemption? There are better uses for your time."

"But... I mean, she's trying to help, Theo." I stop spinning to face him. "Okay, she was screwing around with us that first time, but the list she gave us checked out, the information she's gotten here has been pretty accurate--"

"And as long as she's still working for Vapula, she can continue acquiring that sort of information to pass on."

"You can't possibly be suggesting she go all...double agent for us. It doesn't work that way!"

The Cherub shrugs. "It won't last forever. It might not even last long. But another list of potential redemption candidates, of which two or three make it, a half dozen labs found and eradicated, compared to one Impudite who said she doesn't want to redeem?"

"How...practical." I lean forward, head in my hands and elbows on my knees. "I swear, does _every_ Sparky go Elohite around the edges? Yes, it makes sense what you say, but it doesn't feel right. Giving up on someone like that."

"You don't need to give up, Kai. Only be careful not to let it distract you, or to get too attached. And I'm here to make sure it doesn't get you hurt." Theo sighs softly. "For what sort of hurts I can prevent. I've already come too late for one. I'm sorry."

"What's done is done," I say. "Best we can manage now is to deal with it."


	20. An Intermission With Demons

Jack stopped in the kitchen to wash his hands. And his jacket, leather and thus easy to rinse, but not something he wanted to leave bloody.

He wouldn't have minded her blood on there. To let it remind him of his failures. But he wasn't about to honor that human he tore apart upstairs.

"You told him not to worry," Aglaya said, and he nearly dropped his jacket, hearing her voice behind him. "That he could trust you. It's a good idea to start the lying early. Practice for when you'll need it later."

"What do you want?"

"What I want isn't any of your business. But if you think that I can't recognize my own Band's resonance by now when I see it being used--"

He slammed her up against the wall, arm across her throat. "Don't you dare tell him."

Felt a small prick in his chest.

"This," said Aglaya, "would do serious damage to your vessel. Two shots might even kill you, and Limbo _is_ an unpleasant place, I'm told. So do yourself a favor and don't try to threaten me. I don't have any problem killing demons."

Jack stepped back. Hands clenched into fists, and he wanted to hurt her, but--no. This was not the time to find himself trapped in nothingness for days weeks months with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company.

"Relax," Aglaya said. "I have no intention of telling him. That's not useful right now." She tucked away her little weapon again, inside that silly useless jacket. "You don't have a Heart. Sooner or later, someone's going to realize this, and come looking. Time to make a choice, and fast. Are you going to run for it on your own, or do you want help?"

"Help from _you_?"

"Do you see any better options?" Aglaya turned away. "Come on out to the back yard. I don't think either of us wants them walking into this conversation."

The grass was damp, and pulled away a red smear of blood from Jack's shoes. "It wasn't my fault," he said. "It wasn't supposed to work that way."

"I'll grant you the second part, Jack, but don't delude yourself. What you did upstairs wasn't an accident, and no one pushed you into that."

"I didn't have a choice."

Aglaya smiled, a sharp cold smile. "I used to tell myself that too, but you know what? I did have a choice. So did you. Every step you took to what you've become was your own choice, even if you were choosing between that and what you thought was worse." She brushed damp hair away from her eyes. "If you don't want to end up dead, you'll need a new Heart, and a new Superior."

"If you think I'm going to go serve Vapula--"

"Hardly. Why would he want you? No useful skills for his purposes. That's not who I was offering."

Jack stared at her for a moment. "Who are you working for, Aglaya?"

"Now that's a complicated question. You don't deserve the answer. But if you're interested, I can make a call, and have someone meet you. Who'll find you a Superior who can appreciate...well. Certain things about you." She pulled out a cell phone. "Do you want my help or not? They're going to find out."

Jack laughed hoarsely. "Fine. I'll take your help. What are you getting out of this?"

"Bonus points with someone who considers me to be in serious debt." Aglaya spoke briefly with someone on the other end, all in Helltongue. Finished the conversation and put the phone away. "He'll meet you at his office. I'll give you an address; I strongly recommend not changing your mind once you've received it. And...don't worry. Most newly Fallen are fast learners, with the kind of incentive they're given. You'll fit right in."

And after he'd left, she wrapped her arms around herself, stared up at the brilliant blue sky. A beautiful day, now that the rain had cleared. Except that it was so very cold.

"That one wasn't my fault," she said to herself, quietly. "Wasn't my fault at all. He can't hold that one against me."

When she walked back into the house, she was dry-eyed.


	21. In Which I Make Foolish Promises

"Mannie, there's someone outside who wants to come in," Maharang says, breaking through the perfect focus I'd developed in staring at this set of schematics for the last half hour. And just when I was almost sure of how to fix that overheating issue without reducing output. "I said you were busy and didn't want to be interrupted, and then she said that was okay she was going to interrupt you anyway, and I told her no really you were busy and that's when she started to pick the lock and I'm not sure how to deal with that."

"I don't suppose she'd be willing to make an appointment?" But of course, the Servitors of the Wind never are. As if having their names written down on a schedule somewhere chips away at their soul. "I should just post Kai's current address on my door for people to check when they come by. At this rate he'll need to acquire a van to haul all his visitors around." I turn around in my chair, and wait for the door to open. While I could unlock and open it myself, opening a door that a Windy is trying to unlock is akin to taking a message from a reliever to deliver it yourself. Makes them go all sulky or sniffly, depending on the personality.

The door swings open, and Sharon steps in. "Okay, I don't care what the fairy-thing said--"

"Reliever!" Maharang protests. "Fairies are make-believe ethereal things. Completely different."

"Whatever. Anyway, I need to get back to Earth right away, so could you point me in the right direction? I keep getting the run-around every time I ask the question, and I stopped at the Groves first where they said Windys would be hanging out, but I couldn't find Jack there and if I thought asking anyone else for a straight answer was tricky I had not _met_ tricky until I tried talking to them, so I figured at least you'd be easy to find and got directions here. How does this whole Saint thing work, anyway?"

"...what are you _doing_ here?"

Sharon drops down into the other chair in my office. "Being dead, apparently. I'm not thrilled, and I'm going to be all sorts of upset once the shock wears off, so right now I'm taking advantage of the sheer improbability of this to distract me from little matters like my state of being _dead_ and get a few things taken care of." She pulls a book off the shelf next to her. "You know, I assumed that Lightning would be past books by now. All recording crystals or whatever."

"I'm fond of books. Allow me to rephrase my question. What happened such that you'd be dead in the first place?" Feeling my brain shift gears from quiet analysis to near-panic is something I've experience so often in the last year that I'm accustomed to the blank moment between where nothing makes sense. In about thirty seconds, I'm going to be very upset.

"That, I can't help you with. Last I recall I was heading upstairs to find out who Kai was talking with and..." Sharon waves a hand vaguely. "I think I got shot. I don't know. The Mercurian who greeted me said something about short-term post-trauma memory loss and adjustment periods, but I ditched her back in the Groves to come looking for you. So. How do I get back?"

"Maharang, would you go find Nosha?" The reliever nods, and ducks out the door. "To answer your question, I have no idea. I've never dealt with Saints in any capacity, and certainly not their application process." Ah, and there's the panic setting in, right on schedule. I remind myself that if Kai'd lost a vessel, he'd be in Trauma, and there are people watching his Heart. Though I'm wishing now that I'd kept it here in my office. "Presumably there's some organization for those things. Or several, for different Superiors." I pick out my current notebook and stand up. "Now, if you'll excuse me--"

Having a blessed soul grab the collar of my jacket is an experience I hadn't run into before. "Okay," Sharon says, her face a few centimeters from mine, "let me clarify. I am really seriously freaking out here, I'm _dead_ , I have no idea what my mother will say, and I need to get back down to Earth right now." She gets louder as she speaks. "So just point me in the right direction so that I can get there! Jack needs me!"

My wings have started to spread out behind me, and when did I pick up _that_ particular reaction to stress? "Sharon--"

"Don't Sharon me! I need to get back there! This is important!" She blinks. "Hey, nice wings. Kai was right. Anyway. Back to Earth _now_. Surely you can just, I don't know, grab one of those vessels or something to let me borrow, I know that you can send people back, I can take a lousy vessel, that's okay, I need to get back there. Right. Now."

Perhaps this isn't the right time to try to pry her fingers off my collar, though I find I've backed up against my desk. Personal space, I could use a little more personal space. "I understand this is important, but--"

"Now! Like, hours ago now!"

"What's all the shouting about?" Teresa stomps into my office, and stops short. "Mannie, what are you _doing_?"

"I'm not doing anything, Teresa. I'm simply trying to--"

Sharon abruptly lets go of my jacket, and turns to Teresa. "I just need to get back to Earth, okay? I know I was working for the Wind and not for Lightning, but this is _important_ and I can't get a straight answer out of anyone over there, you'd think they'd understand that I'm in a hurry and I'm dead and I don't know what I'm going to do about this and I don't even remember _how_."

Which is when Sharon starts crying, and I...have no idea what to do with that.

"Shh," says Teresa, and pulls her in close, white-feathered wings folding in around both of them. "I'll take care of it. Come on, we'll go see who we can talk to about this, and work out the best way to get you back there."

"Okay," Sharon says, between sobs, wraps her arms tight around the Mercurian.

The two of them leave my office.

"That," I say, to no one in particular, "did not make any sense at all."

Nosha follows Maharang into my office. "Sharon being here?"

"No, Teresa being comforting. I didn't think she had a sympathetic feather on her."

"Friend of Man. Just because she gets along badly with most angels doesn't mean she has a problem with humans." Nosha sighs, and drops down into the chair. "That's a bad sign. And no clue what happened?"

"Not yet." I reach for my phone. "I might be able to find out, though."

And the phone rings just as I'm about to dial.

"Kai. What happened?"

"Sharon's dead." I don't ever want to hear my Ofanite's voice so defeated as it sounds right now. "Jack's left to...well. Tell her mother, he said. I don't know. Either this guy had a seriously tight Role, or Jack killed a human. He said--doesn't matter. I'm dealing with cleanup as best I can. Theo's here, that's a help, and we're trying to work a few things out. Nomikos hasn't arrived yet, I wish he'd been here--never mind. We'll figure it out and deal."

"I knew about Sharon. She just showed up. She's, ah, quite eager to get back down to Earth. Said that she was concerned about Jack, and from what I'm hearing, rightfully so." I want to ask, are you safe? How are you coping? But I don't ask Kai these questions anymore, because he'll try to answer in a way that would make me happy. He has a Cherub with him now, and if I'd trust Zif from here to Hell with anything I value, I can try to trust this one I so briefly met to take care of Kai.

"Thank God. It's...damn. I didn't get a chance to talk to her about Jack yet. This isn't going to be comfortable."

"I'll send an email to Teresa about the issue, and let her deal with it. She's better at dealing with humans than I am." I close my eyes, and count to ten. Kai's not happy, but it doesn't sound as if he's in danger, and I can stop panicking. "Is there anything you need?" And what I mean is, can I do anything to make you feel better? Neither Sharon's death nor Jack's behavior are problems I can solve.

"Um. Maybe. How do you get Geases off of someone?"

Not a question I'd expected to hear, but he would have told me first if he'd been Geased by someone. "You don't. A Superior can try to unweave them, but that's incredibly dangerous, and liable to make Lilith annoyed at you. The Lilim who placed them removes or uses them."

"That's what I thought, but I was hoping--okay. I can deal with that."

Nosha and Maharang watch me quietly, and there will be questions when this conversation ends. At least he hasn't--

Wait.

Oh, no he's _not_.

"Kai? Don't even think about it."

"What?"

"Don't."

"I didn't even say--"

"You didn't need to. You will _not_ hunt down some Lilim just to make an attempt at coaxing that damned Impudite around to your way of thinking. You remember how many hooks I got in you when we were traveling together, don't you? You'll end up covered in Geases and with nothing to show for it. Don't even think about it."

"But I need to--"

"No, you don't. If you try, you'll end up with your Cherub sitting on you until you change your mind. Look. Just...deal with the job you've been given, understood? Find out who she owes the Geases to, get back to me on that. I'll see what I can do on the other end."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Far better than yours." If Kai can be stubborn in his convictions, he's easy enough to sway when I claim I have a better plan. "Do you think it'll help if you distract yourself with two demons at once? Find out what Aglaya's up to, work on your current assignment, and don't concern yourself with the rest. You have enough to deal with already."

"Thanks. I'll make it up to you."

"Don't worry about it." I close the phone. Stare at it. "...did I just promise to track down one or more Lilim and convince them to drop Geases on someone I don't even _like_?"

"I believe so," says Nosha. "I'm rather looking forward to the part where you explain this to Zif. And to Gariel."

"They're going to veto you, boss," Maharang says. "You can't go down to Earth and talk Lilim out of their Geases. I'm pretty sure that doesn't work."

"Talk them out of it? Where did you get that idea? I intend to intimidate, threaten, and coerce them out of such things." I offer my reliever a quick grin. "Redemption didn't make me forget how to deal with demons. Besides, I don't plan on going into this alone."

"I have to agree with Maharang. You're unlikely to get permission," Nosha says. "And why do I have the dreadful feeling that I'm one of the people you want to drag along?"

"Probably because you're correct. I wouldn't try this sort of thing without you and Zif at my side. And perhaps I will be told to stay here and not bother myself with such things, but I intend to be...persuasive." I flip to a new page in my notebook, and begin jotting out convincing reasons for why this ought to happen. All of them true, as a Seraph ought to appreciate. "If I intend to follow a plan so insane as this, I'll need backup."

"I wish I could come," Maharang says. "I could help too."

"You're a bit young for that." It's amazingly easy to come up with good reasons for this plan, now that I'm applying myself. Of course, I'm discovering plenty of reasons why this is a dreadful idea in the process, but those I'm not writing down.

"Then I wish I were big enough to be able to come, so I could help too." Maharang isn't the sort to sulk, but there's the beginnings of a frown on its face.

Nosha pulls the reliever down from where it's perching, to hold in two pale arms. "You don't need to worry. If he does go down to Earth, Zif and I will watch out for him."

"But I'm worried anyway." Maharang sighs, and clings to the Elohite. "I didn't use to feel like this. I knew all the big angels could take care of things. But now I know more about how it doesn't always work out that way."

"Trust me, Maharang. I'll be careful. I'll make sure he is, too."

"Okay." The reliever dashes back to the door. "I'm going to be late to class if I don't go. Make sure to leave me a note if you go while I'm out!"

When it's gone, I turn to Nosha. "What do you think?"

"It wouldn't be correct to say I think you're insane, but the truth does edge in that direction. I would ask you what you were thinking to agree to this, except that I know." Nosha reaches over to my desk to flip open the box of cookies and pulls one out. "Have you considered turning down one of Kai's requests? Perhaps only every fifth or sixth. For practice."

"It's a reasonable request. Compared to some."

"Compared to storming into Tartarus demanding they return any office supplies you left behind. You're letting your emotions twist you around." Nosha nibbles on the cookie.

"I'm allowed to."

"I know. At the moment, this irritates me to no end. I'll get over it. When you submit the request to Gariel, please make it clear that I'm not in favor of this."

I tilt my computer towards me, and smile at Nosha. "I'll be sure to do that. Shall I itemize your objections, or make a general statement to that effect and let you fill in the details in person?"

"A general statement will do. I can itemize them myself." Nosha rises, and takes another cookie from the box. "Please try not to agree to do anything else that stupid while I'm working on the list. I can only take so many unpleasant surprises in a day."

"I'll save the next bad idea for tomorrow," I say. Then it's time to turn back to the email I'm composing and focus on the delicate task of convincing a Seraph that I'm right.


	22. In Which Judgment And Lightning Have Disparate Goals

I'm glad to ditch the motel room; it was cramped with one person, would be unbearable with three. Theo's either working with a wealthier Role than I am, or more willing to throw cash around, because the hotel he's chosen is the nicest I've ever stayed at. (I bet Mannie would approve.) When I stop somewhere for a night, and unless I'm traveling with humans (I am not thinking about certain things) that's not often, I crash somewhere cheap, anonymous, and with the parking lot near the front door to my room.

The parking lot is three stories and a basement down from where I'm standing. I'm not happy about that.

But there's a lot that I'm not happy about today.

Shouldn't be inside when it's so bright outside. This is a day for walking through parks or driving out into some stretch of land where there are no buildings to be seen. But Theo is being...well. Not so much pushy as concerned, and I know better than to try to argue with a concerned Cherub, least of all one attuned to me. If watching Zif in action is any indication, nothing shuts down the "able to be reasoned with" bits of a Cherub's brain like the notion that its attuned might run towards danger.

I hope they won't keep us together long. I'm not used to working with another angel all the time, and I don't think my running around with Windys is useful experience in this case.

Not fond of the way he's using my phone all the time, either. I understand that Heaven-to-Earth phones aren't so common that they get passed out to everyone, but there are people who might call me.

Theo hangs up from his latest call, and passes the phone over to me. It's enough to make me feel guilty for resenting the use. "We're fortunate that the Destiny Servitor is willing to help us," he says, "because that War Servitor isn't. I'm not certain we can pull this off."

"This would be easier if we got rid of those demons at the center," Aglaya says. She's sitting cross-legged on the bed, sorting through one of the file folders we swiped, and doesn't look up. "It's easier to implicate someone in a murder if they're no longer around to defend themselves. While the element of surprise isn't with us, we know their location, and they don't have a good idea of who we are."

"We don't think they know who we are," I correct. "I'm not willing to count on that, though it'd be handy if true. I just hope I can get through this job without compromising my Role. The Boss is bound to get annoyed if I screw up another one of those." You'd think that after so many decades as I had maintaining a single Role with minimal difficulty, I'd be able to hold one down, but no, I'm nearly as tough on Roles as I am on vessels. It'll be something of a relief if they pass this one on to someone else when this job is over; I'd rather deal with a higher rate of disturbance and not worry about wasting resources. And maybe I could get a different vessel. One that isn't so...tall. And sharp. I'd be happier five inches closer to the ground.

I'd be happier if yesterday had never happened. But I'm not getting that.

There's a brisk rap on the door, and I _know_ the pattern of those knocks. Beautiful piece of familiarity in this strange impersonal place. "Aglaya? That's your cue."

She slides off the bed, grabs a folder. "Let me know when you're done." And disappears through the doorway to the adjoining room.

Theo frowns for a moment, and I can see him trying to decide between watching me and following her, but he moves into the other room, and shuts the door behind him. Which is what I'd prefer.

I open the door. Nomikos is dressed as formally as he ever was in his triad, just this side of full business wear, briefcase and neat tie. The image of a conservative young businessman with important matters on his mind.

The moment the door's shut, I throw myself into a hug, no matter if he gets awkward about such things. "You would not believe how glad I am to see you."

He puts one arm around me, like he's not sure what to do with a hug. I'd call him one of my oldest friends, but Judges are always fidgety around the edges when it comes to affection. "I received your message about the change of address. It's good to see that you're picking up a few Songs."

"Um. Relic, actually." I spin the piccolo at him. "Spiffy present, isn't it? And...yeah. I probably ought to take the time to learn Songs."

Nomikos steps back, and I let go. Wouldn't do to make him too uncomfortable. "I gather from your message that you know why I'm here."

"Yeah, Mannie called."

"Did he?" I think he means that rhetorically, because he doesn't stop for an answer. "I apologize for not arriving as soon as I'd predicted. I encountered pressing business on the way, and was delayed."

"Better late than not at all. Jack needs help, and I'm not sure he's even listening to me anymore. And...he's not going to be reasonable right now, Nomikos. Sharon got killed yesterday, and he's reacting badly. Not that I can blame him for that, but..." I spin off into my second-choice circuit around the room. "He needs to get back to Heaven. Before he does anything worse. I don't know, maybe _she_ can talk some sense into him, once he gets there."

"Perhaps." And it's weird to see Nomikos by himself, because Adala and Dedan ought to be there with him. I always and ever saw him with his triad, and right now Adala ought to be asking me the standard questions, and Dedan watching. But it's only him.

I sit down on the bed. It annoys people to try to watch me pacing all the time. "Anyway. I'm glad you're here. Once you find Jack, I know you'll do what's best for him, whether he can see it or not."

And Nomikos...winces. Such a small movement I barely even catch it. "We will do what's just," he says. "Whether it's what is best for him...is another matter."

If I close my eyes, it doesn't change anything. But it does make me feel better for a moment.

"I'm sorry," he says. And means it. Judge and Malakite and ever proper, but he's still my friend. 

And he's being more honest than I am, considering who's over in the next room.

"You know," I say, and I can't sit still any longer, "this is the first time I've ever understood being afraid of Judgment." I wave away his first response. "No, it's okay, I'm just...dealing. It's been a few really weird days. Jack left last night. To go tell Sharon's mother, but... I don't know. I'm not sure if he's going there or not. It's a place to check. I can give you the address, and there's a Lightning Tether not far from there. Hitch a ride and you can show up before Jack does."

"Thank you. I'll check there first." Nomikos sets his briefcase down on the room's desk, and snaps it open. "Can that artifact you received from Lightning, the one that calls Heaven, also patch into local phone lines?"

"Sure." I can't see inside his briefcase from this angle, or tell what he's doing with something inside. Not sure I want to know.

"Then I'll give you my phone number. Please call me immediately if you hear anything about, or from, Jack." I shouldn't be surprised that he has a business card, though it's only a white card with a set of numbers written across it.

I enter the numbers into my address book--it only took me two months to figure out how to use that--then scribble the address he needs across the card and pass it back. "I will call. If I get any word from him, though I don't think it's likely. I've gone months without hearing one word from him before, and more often now that I'm working for Lightning. Jack. Um. Didn't take that very well."

Nomikos nods slowly, and closes his briefcase. "Communication with his coworkers has been, shall we say, imprecise. Do you know how he's been picking up so much dissonance? Is it his Superior's Word or his Choir that causes him difficulty?"

"Choir dissonance. Jack's always been on the violent side for a Mercurian, but...only towards demons, you know? I guess he's been less careful of late."

"Do you have any idea how much dissonance he's picked up?" A clinical tone that would do Zif proud.

"Last I heard...four notes. That's what he said. And I don't think he'd lie by saying it was more than it was so... at least that." How much has Jack been lying to me about this stuff? Or about anything else. "Nomikos, you'd know a lot about how the Game operates, right? What sort of things they can do?"

The Malakite's expression shifts slightly, and I know him well enough to tell that he wasn't expecting that question. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Jack said that there was a thing some Servitors of the Game can do, to make themselves seem human. As in, disturbance when they get damaged, that sort of thing. Have you ever heard of that?"

Nomikos is quiet for so long that I'm starting to worry I've said something wrong. But finally, he says, "You want to know if he's incurred more dissonance while he was with you. And that was the explanation he gave."

"You're as bad as a Seraph, Nomikos."

He laughs, and it's worth a grin from me, even if the moment doesn't last. "It comes from having one as a Superior, Kai. You can be Mercurian in your approach to humanity sometimes."

"Thank you."

"To answer your question. There is an attunement of Asmodeus that appears to function in a manner like that. Details are scarce, and I would like to know where Jack learned of it. One more item to discuss with him." He can stand very still when he wants to, and right now he's as still as any Elohite who sees no value in wasting motion. "I won't lie to you and claim this is a likely explanation."

"But it's possible?"

"If distantly, yes."

"I can work with that." Sharon is dead, but she's made it to Heaven, and must be pestering someone for a chance to come back. Jack is Outcast, but Judgment will bring him back and get him straightened out. Everything that's wrong can still be fixed. I can't fix everything myself, but other people can, and they're taking care of things.

"Before I go," says Nomikos, and even knowing he couldn't stay long, I hate to hear it, "one more question. Do you have anything of his that could be used for tracking? If I don't find him at the address you've given me, it would be faster to use the Song of Affinity than to attempt to persuade the Servitors of the Wind to reveal the location of his Heart."

"Not really. Jack isn't one for keeping things long." Except maybe one. I find the skeleton key buried beneath paperclips in my jacket pocket. I ought to get a jacket with more pockets, these are filling up. "Don't know if this would be any help, but he had it for a while. Best I can offer."

"Thank you." And the key disappears inside his coat. So very formal, suit and tie. Do Judges ever get a chance to stop being formal, and relax with friends? Do they want to? Nomikos has been friendly the few times I've seen him in Heaven when he's off duty, but always so contained. Like he's trying to be Seraph and Elohite and Malakite all at once. 

And it's suddenly weirding me out that I'd like to drag him off to the bed for an hour or so to show him a few of the corporeal acts I picked up from Mannie. Because, well, he's a Judge, and they don't do that. I think. But I could use some stress relief right now. Wish Mannie were here. "Could you let me know once you catch up with him and get him back to Heaven?"

"Judgment matters are private, Kai."

"But he's my friend. I need to know."

"You want to know. It's not the same thing." He turns to the door. "But if I am permitted, I will send word once the matter has been resolved."

I'm not going to get more than that. "Good luck and Godspeed."

"Go with justice, Kai."

He didn't once look back at me while he was leaving. I wonder if he was focused on the task ahead of him, or if there was something he didn't want me to see.

But I'm being distracted, and I have a job, as I told Jack the last time we were shouting at each other. A quick knock on the adjoining door brings Theo and Aglaya back out, with the Cherub first in line to give me a quick once-over, as if a meeting with Judgment would put me in danger. "Summary?"

"He's off to find Jack."

"Good. One less thing to worry about. Two, if Judgment has better things to think about than what you're up to."

"Not that I'm fond of this whole lack of mentioning things to them. I'm not used to being so...sneaky. Makes me feel dishonest."

Aglaya returns to her place on the bed. "You have no problem with breaking and entering, violence, theft, or any other number of things you've done with your Windy friends, but not mentioning something to Judgment makes you feel guilty?"

"Nomikos is a friend. I don't like not telling him things." I wish the chair they included for this desk had wheels, or could spin. "He was part of the triad that visited me every week for a long time. I see him, I expect to tell him everything and wait for him to let me know if I'm screwing up."

"You'd call a Malakite of Judgment your friend? You are an odd Creationer."

"They have a hard job. I know I couldn't do it. Like trying to be Seraph and Elohite and your own Choir all in one, and always looking for what's ultimately most just, not only the best for the immediate situation. And if you make a mistake in a job like that, it's a _major_ problem, and likely to affect other people in unpleasant ways. I couldn't handle that sort of pressure. So I admire the angels who can."

"Tell me, Kai. Is there any Archangel whose Servitors you actually dislike?"

"As a group? Of course not. Dad was never the sort to do politics." I take the file Theo passes to me, and begin flipping through pages of invoices for lab supplies. "With the director dead, it's going to be tricky to get this place cleaned out without shutting down the whole center. Dealing with Vapulans is so much easier when they're conveniently isolated."

"It's a single research facility looking for a cure to an extremely rare disease," Aglaya says. "I wouldn't call it that much of a loss if removing the demons means the entire center falls apart. We're not talking about burning the place to the ground."

"Determining an appropriate response is difficult without knowing what they're doing," Theo says. "I wish you'd taken the time to ask more questions of those Servitors you freed. A few more clues about what processes had been engaged in would be useful."

"Interesting," says Aglaya.

We both turn to look at her, and no doubt that was the intended effect, because she offers a sweet little smile. "Come take a look at this."

Theo takes the folder first, and glances at the paper at the top. Stops, reads through it again more slowly. "...groups two and three?"

"With a single subject listed as group three. Look at the numbers for group two. Angels and ethereal spirits."

"So what's group one?" I ask. "Humans, demons, something else?"

Aglaya drums her fingers on a stack of folders. "Demons, I think. What we've gathered so far suggests that the experiments have to do with vessels. Quick and dirty experiments on demonlings in cheap vessels... That's easy to arrange. They wouldn't need to worry about secrecy and infiltrating a human organization until they wanted to start working on angels."

Theo flips through the papers in that folder. "If we assume that's what the different groups refer to in here... Mm. I begin to wonder if this might be something of a personal project. Though it seems high on the resources for that. But we may be looking at two separate lines of research going on in that center, one a formal Vapulan project and the other an individual line."

"Why would you say that?" I take a look at the spreadsheet printout he's stopped at, but it doesn't make any sense. Lines of numbers with vague labels attached. One more Ethereal Force may be giving me certain advantages, but at the moment I'm just _sure_ that I don't know what any of that says. Maybe I should sign up for some of the introductory science classes next time I'm upstairs.

"One set of funds, here. For lab equipment and the like. But it's split between two different categories, and you'll see"--Theo flips to another sheet that makes just as little sense to me--"they're all being accounted for together again over here. Mm. Aglaya, how careful are most Vapulans about their accounting when working with funds set aside for a project?"

"Depends on how important the project is, how much they've been given in the way of funds, how much the people working on it are trusted..." She chews on her lip for a moment. "You can do a lot of creative juggling, and it's unlikely that anyone will look too closely so long as you stay within the allotment. If the project runs past deadline, or you suddenly start requesting more resources, you'd better have damn clean books to present to anyone who shows up asking questions."

"That one demon--the one of the four who wasn't out in the woods, I guess--called in three more people, right? That's got to show up as more resources requested." I set down the folder I'm working with because I don't think I'm going to be any use in trying to decipher the contents.

"Maybe. I'm not sure he called in coworkers. The conversation was...spotty. They had context I didn't. But I believe the two outside are borrowed, or hired, from elsewhere. Security, not research assistants. What one of them said suggested that there was a Calabite in the pair outside, which means...well. Some outside source." Aglaya frowns. "Probably Belial. It's an easy place to turn when you want deterrents to attackers."

"A Calabite of Fire? That could be..." Theo shudders. "Kai, are you any good with guns?"

"Um. Hitting people with them, yes. Shooting them, not so much. My Dad's Malakite attunement is more useful than ordinary weaponry."

"Well. I'll deal with that." And the way he says it, I'm not hearing "I'll teach you how to shoot better," but more "I'll make sure they're concentrating on hurting me _first_."

Being a Cherub's attuned is weird. This is the first time it's happened to me, and I'm not sure I like it. I'm supposed to be the one who gets in the way of danger to protect people, not the other way around. Got to wonder if this is the Boss's way of reminding me to slow down and _think_ before leaping into the fray. Because while I'm usually no more concerned with keeping my vessel in one piece than necessary--there are more important things to worry about--I'd feel lousy if I dropped dissonance on Theo by getting myself vessel-killed again.

Aglaya and Theo dive into a discussion of, so far as I can tell, accounting practices, which I can follow around the edges, but...forget not being smart enough, I don't have the education to follow this. I don't understand half the terms they're using, and this isn't even science. I think.

I pace the room, and let the words flow around me. Definitely going to sign up for a few intro classes in the Halls of Progress when I'm done with this job.


	23. An Intermission With Judgment

Nomikos took the briefest moment to appreciate the room where his Heart was kept after ascending to Heaven. Clean straight lines, orderly rows, and the archway that led out had sufficient curves to lend beauty to the hard corners.

But there were more pressing matters to attend to. 

He walked to the office of the Mercurian taking his reports, and knocked rather than sending a request for an appointment.

The response arrived more promptly than he'd expected, and Nomikos found himself standing before her desk before he'd prepared what he wished to say.

"Report." She didn't look up as she worked through the papers on her desk.

"He's moved on, though I've received information on where he might go next. I've also acquired an item which we might use to track him." Nomikos kept his wings folded tightly against his back. "However, the information I've received suggests he's become more dissonant since he became Outcast. It is likely, though not certain, that he's Fallen."

The Mercurian did look up at that. "What leads you to this conclusion?"

"He killed a human. I am not convinced that the story he gave to his companions about the human being an agent of the Game using that deceptive attunement was correct. A dissonant Mercurian who deliberately murders a human is unlikely to remain a Mercurian for long." Nomikos stilled his wings from their movement, and wished that this Outcast had been the friend of anyone other than Kai. "Can we receive confirmation from the Wind?"

"Eventually, but not immediately. They take delight in delaying us. We'll have to proceed without." She began to write across a sheet of parchment. "Do you believe there is enough chance of this one being only an Outcast to justify sending anything other than an execution triad?"

_No_ , he thought. He opened one hand, and saw the silver key he'd been given. Because an angel trusted Judgment to do what was right for its friend. "Until we're sure," Nomikos said, "there remains the possibility. A triad prepared for either possibility would be more suitable."

The Mercurian nodded, and wrote further on the parchment. "Seraph, Cherub, Mercurian. They will make an attempt to reason with him and determine his status before taking further action."

"Not Mercurian."

She paused, the quill in her fingers held aloft. "Sending another of his Choir, that he might feel some kinship and be more cooperative, is standard procedure."

"All of his dissonance has been from his Choir's dissonance conditions. He might react poorly to a reminder of this failure."

"We are not in the habit of coddling Outcasts who brought that status upon themselves, Virtue."

"Neither do we wish to push away those who might still be saved." Nomikos bit back further words. Was grateful for the moment of silence she granted him, to regain his composure. "I don't believe it would be wise to send a Mercurian as the third for that triad."

"An Elohite, then?"

"An Ofanite."

It was an unfamiliar sense of satisfaction to watch her stop at that suggestion, surprise etched for a moment across her face. "An Ofanite's resonance would be little use in negotiations with an Outcast Mercurian."

"But his best friend is an Ofanite, and reminding Jack of this--and of what he stands to lose, should he not cooperate--may be useful."

The quill spun between her fingers for a moment. "This is your assessment of the situation?"

"To the best of my judgment."

"So be it." The Mercurian finished with the parchment, signed it, and passed it to Nomikos. "Deliver this as marked, and pass along the item you were given. You will accompany the triad in their search, but not become involved in the encounter unless needed."

Nomikos bowed briefly, and left. To declare that he would follow these orders would be to call attention to his own lingering uncertainty. Obedience was an assumption, and needed no emphasis.

The Malakite fingered his fifth oath-chain as he walked.


	24. An Intermission With Lightning And Technology

Yoshiko poked through the racks of older manga on the shelves. Read it, read it, bad translation, read it, shoddy artwork, read it. There was no reason to linger, but the weather had turned gray and wet, and there were a half dozen whiny emails waiting at home. She wasn't in the mood to explain to yet another eager young Servitor that no, "just hack into the system and get me all their info!" was not a valid job request. If anything important came up, they could very well call.

"Five minutes until we close," said the clerk behind the counter, though he wasn't about to kick her out if she decided to stay longer. "Hey, kid, know what you want yet?"

"Not yet," said a small voice nearby. Yoshiko looked down, and saw a girl, maybe nine years old, crouched down by the manga on the floor. Black hair, dark skin, and a bulky pink jacket over a set of blue overalls. Not the typical manga fan. And gaudy plastic sunglasses, the garish sort that only children could get away with out of stubborn perversity. "Can't decide."

"Look, you don't want any of those." Yoshiko pulled out the first volume of _Yotsuba &!_ to wave at the kid. "Try this, okay? Decent translation, though it would be better in the original."

"But I don't read Japanese," said the girl, accepting the book.

"That's why you're stuck with the translation." Yoshiko steered the child up to the counter, and was momentarily irritated by the stupid sunglasses. Not that this would have made for much of a hook, but some children grew up into someone worth geasing. "Where are your parents?" The rest of the shop was deserted, aside from the clerk.

"At home?" The child pulled out a wrinkled bill to pay at the counter, waited for the book to be scanned and returned to her. "Thank you."

"You are too young to be running around without supervision. Especially in weather like this. How are you getting home?"

"Just walking. It's not far." The girl wiped her nose on a jacket sleeve. "Thanks for showing me what to get."

"Sure, whatever." Yoshiko turned back to her perusal of the shelves.

Heard the bell on the door ding as the girl walked out.

The Lilim sighed, and pushed her way out into the cold. "Kid? You are _not_ walking home in this weather alone. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

"I'm not supposed to take rides from strangers," said the girl, but put her hand amiably enough into Yoshiko's.

"And you're not supposed to be walking home alone when it looks to start sleeting again any minute either, but this hasn't stopped you. Do your parents know you're out here?" She walked briskly towards where her car was parked, and the distance from one end of the shopping center to the other seemed much further than it had when she'd parked a few hours back. "I swear, someone is going to owe me for this."

"Yeah, they know. Are you from Japan?"

"Not recently." A touch of bitterness to that memory, and if it had been fortunate to be called out of Hiroshima before the bomb fell, she still resented being stuck in this country with its socially imprecise language and brusque customs. Even if she had picked up on a few habits from the locals. "Why do you ask?"

"Correlating emotional reaction with known background details to confirm your identity, mostly."

Yoshiko stopped short. "What?"

"You owe me," said a voice from behind her, and Yoshiko felt the Geas settle around her like a choke chain. "You'll do as I say for the duration. Don't run. Don't tell anyone."

She found a distant memory to connect to the voice. Turned around, and found it was true. "You bastard."

The man in front of her shrugged, hands tucked into the pockets of his overcoat. "I'm playing by the rules."

"Do you have any idea what they'll _do_ to me if they find out you're holding a Geas on me?"

"Then it's in your best interests not to let them find out," Mannie said. As cold-voiced as ever, and it wasn't hard to remember the first time she'd met him in Tartarus, bargained for a chance to prove herself once more. Elegant narrow shades blocked her from any chance at reading what he might need for a corresponding hook. "Let's return to your place before someone catches sight of us together."

He let her drive. Some small consideration. She didn't dare to try anything while he sat in the other seat, not even when he wasn't looking at her. There had been enough stories floating around about what he could do when someone interrupted his projects. Safe enough when left alone, the other Lilim had told her. No mind for politics. A harmless obsessive scientist. Up until the moment you interfered with his work.

And he'd always been so convenient, so safe, to ask for a favor when she needed it. No need to worry about whether he was playing a deeper game, or that she might be pulled by that hook into political complications.

"So you are playing games with the Host," she said. "Considering that you have an Elohite doing your dirty work."

"Playing games? An interesting way of putting it."

"And they let you do that? How tight of a collar do they have on you?"

When he smiled, he had all the warmth of the rain dropping down across the windshield. "Tighter than you'd imagine, Sister. I'm tied a half dozen ways to Heaven." The laugh surprised her. "I could count the ways, but you wouldn't understand."

"What do you want from me?" Let it be a simple computer job, even a complex one, and she'd be free in a matter of days. Not so long an absence or delay as to raise suspicion, she could still get through this without drawing the attention of the Game, and she'd count herself more than lucky for that. The only time he'd ever called in a favor before was to have her manage some computer project he hadn't wanted to deal with himself. A strangely Luddite tendency for a Vapulan, but one had to expect eccentricities from any Lilim that manifested as male.

"Information. I'll explain once we get there."

He was right beside her all the way up the stairs, and Yoshiko paused at the door, covered it as a fumbling for keys. If Goldie could keep quiet--no. Mannie was bound to read something in the imp's eyes, or that Elohite would notice inappropriate emotions. They'd destroy her Servant if they found it was watching. "Maharang," she said, pushed herself towards formality as much as it rankled, "I have a dog-vesseled Servant in there who I'd rather not lose. This would be difficult if he saw you. Can I shut him in a room before you come in? He's been locked in there before when I've had clients by."

The pause stretched out long enough that she began to worry she'd offended him. "You may," he said. "But nothing else. Don't give him any clue about what's going on."

"I won't."

Yoshiko stepped inside, shut the door quickly behind her. He hadn't said not to lock the door--but if she started acting contrary, he might become more unpleasant, and who knew how many angel minders he had to support unpleasantness? Best to be cooperative, and get it finished quickly. "Goldie, I have a private client. You get to stay in the bedroom for a while."

The dog whined, but trotted into the other room.

"No listening at the door," she said, and turned on the radio in the bedroom. "This is serious, understand?" Shut the door behind her, locked _that_ one, and then opened the front door. "Okay, he's out of the way. Come in."

Mannie stepped inside, stood still for a moment while he examined the apartment. It felt suddenly cheap and cluttered with him looking at it, where she'd always found the space comfortable and personal before. "I see your tastes haven't changed much."

"Why should they? I know what I like." Yoshiko dropped down into a beanbag and pulled up her computer. "So we're here. What do you want?"

"Answers. But I don't intend to be the one asking the questions." A brisk rap at the door, and when he opened it, the little girl--Elohite, a sneaky little Elohite--walked inside, followed by a middle-aged woman in conservative business-wear. He shut the door again behind them, and Yoshiko pushed down the beginnings of panic from where it threatened to overwhelm her. Two angels, a powerful Renegade... She'd be lucky to get out of this one alive, much less unnoticed by the Game. "You've already met Nosha. She'll ask the questions."

The Elohite dropped down next to Yoshiko, and pulled off that pink jacket. "For what it's worth," she said, "I do appreciate the manga recommendation. Gamma and Strange have been telling me I should try a few for ages, but I've never had the time to look into that form of storytelling."

Cooperative. No matter how much she hated it, she would be cooperative and try to get out of this situation alive. Far too late now to run screaming, assuming she could even manage to break through the whispered _obey, obey_ of the Geas around her. "What do you want?"

"Complicated question," said Nosha, fishing a green lollipop out of her overalls, and weren't Elohim supposed to be blank-faced cold-hearted bastards who'd do anything for what they considered the ultimate good? Seeing one in pigtails working through a sticky bit of candy jarred horribly with what she knew. Maybe that was the point. "You probably mean, what do we want from you? Which is still complicated, but covering a smaller area." The Elohite paused, smiled at her from behind those stupid plastic sunglasses. "You're stressed. Try to relax. We don't intend any direct threat towards you, and if we get what we've come for, we intend to leave you in peace."

"You'd say that whether it was true or not."

"Yes, but I'd feel bad about it if it weren't." Nosha stuffed the lollipop away in that same front pocket. "Mannie? Be a dear and make us some tea, would you? This is going to be a long conversation."

And that felt very much like shock, to watch Mannie, black-hearted terror of a dozen stories, walk into the kitchen without any complaint to open cupboards. "It's in the one in the back," she said. "Left side. Cups are hanging inside the shelf above. Kettle's on the stove." Still no complaint, and she decided to press her luck. "Chamomile, if you would. And please remember to use the filtered water in the fridge, not tap water."

How well did they have him tied, that he'd comply, even as she was the one with a Geas around her neck?

Could they tie her up the same way now that they'd found her?

No. She was no Renegade, and with a Heart and Prince to return to, couldn't be broken like that. Never like _that_.

And the little girl who wasn't so young or helpless at all was watching her, full aware of every twist of her emotions. Yoshiko stilled a shudder. If it wasn't the near mind-reading of Seraphim, it was still too far into her head for comfort. "What are your questions?"

"What research did you do for Aglaya recently?"

A darling little Impudite and friend, who would no doubt give out another's name and location to save her own skin. "She told you--"

"No. She wasn't the one who gave us your name. But we received certain information from a Servitor who recently woke from Trauma, correlated with other sets of data..." A very clinical gesture of dismissal from the girl. "We aren't incapable of putting together the facts to reach a conclusion. What did she ask you for?"

"Credit card records." Yoshiko pushed away the touch of guilt at saying this. A Geas dictated certain results, and she couldn't call it betrayal when her hand was forced. "She gave me a set of information, and wanted to find someone. I tracked down a few possibilities, she took it from there."

"The downside of a Role that's using the typical forms of payment in this society," Nosha said. "She had enough information to narrow it down sufficiently?"

"Once she got to seeing the actual purchases, sure. Spending patterns for angels don't follow the same trends as those of your average human." Yoshiko found her fingers hovering over the keys of her laptop, a half dozen chat rooms open, and nothing to say in any of them. "That's all you wanted to know?"

"That's only the most recent piece of information you've found for her. What other favors have you done for Aglaya?"

"Research. I mean, a little here, a little there. The usual sort of thing. Finding out what other Servitors are doing, where they are, basic info."

"Do you keep records of these things?"

"Of course not. Do I look like an idiot? Everyone snoops around about other projects, but no one wants to get caught. Pretend like it's one big happy cooperative family, right? Any information I got her went straight to hard copy and then left my hard drive. No way to trace it back to me."

"I see. We can come back to that later. How long has she been asking you for this sort of information?"

"Um. Maybe two years? Did her a few favors now and then back in the day, but it's only recently she's been coming in often." Stupid little Amy, thinking she could play the Host to her own ends, and look where it was getting her. Better yet, look where it was getting her _friends_. Yoshiko reminded herself to have a long talk with the Impudite about this, assuming said Impudite was alive to talk after the Host finished with her. And spared a momentary pang of worry for that one. Stupid, endlessly stupid to try to play with angels, no matter that Aglaya'd said her plan was secure. "Finding out where people were assigned, mostly."

"Interesting."

"Boring, more like. And cheap. Nothing difficult." Let them underestimate her, consider her part in Aglaya's game too small to be worth pursuing further.

"Really? How far in debt is she to you?"

"No major favors." And there weren't, nothing larger than a week's Geas in any of them. All the little favors adding up over time.

"How many total?" Mannie asked, and presented her with a cup of tea. Passed another to the Elohite while she was wrapping her hands around hot ceramic. He sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of them, coat spread out around him, and took a sip of tea. Frowned. "You drink this voluntarily?"

"I happen to _like_ chamomile." Yoshiko considered avoiding his first question, and decided it wasn't worth the risk of annoying him. Even a leashed dog could bite at its master's command. "About a dozen hour hooks. Another dozen days. And four weeks. Why do you care?"

"I don't," said Nosha. "This is Mannie's project, not mine."

Which put a new spin on things. Amy-dearest had worked for Mannie when she was a scared little demon, and seemed to have done a certain amount of imprinting in the process. Assume that this had gone both ways, and now Mannie wanted his pet back... He looked like someone normal, sitting on the floor. Not frightening at all. Not that she was about to forget what he'd been able to do. A year's Geas still lingering in potentia on her for the time he'd thrown a Shedite she hated to a triad of Judgment without leaving anyone the wiser. Even chained and distracted by some old attachment, he was dangerous. "You want me to drop my holds on her."

"Thus she displays a rudimentary level of cleverness," Mannie said. "About as quickly as I expected."

"Don't be rude," said Nosha.

"You can't make me give up what's owed to me. I paid for every one of those favors fair and square." The very idea that they'd try to force her into that--

"I don't intend to ask you to give them up for nothing," Mannie said. "What I'm proposing is an equitable trade. If you drop every hook you have in Aglaya, I'll drop those I hold on you, save the one currently active."

"That's not _fair_. I have more on her than you do on me."

"Are you sure?"

She opened her mouth to protest. Closed it again. And had to wonder, for every time he'd presented her with a solution she'd asked for, if there was a time he'd arranged something in her favor without ever letting her know. "It's not fair," she repeated quietly.

"Neither is life. And yet, somehow, we manage." He pulled a notebook out from inside his coat, a pen to match it, and began scribbling out...something. Whatever it was that he felt the need to keep notes on. "You're not dealing with us from a position of power. But you're correct. She owes you more than you owe me, and you don't have to give up any of those Geases if you don't wish to do so."

"So what if I don't? I'll answer your questions, but not that."

"I need her free of those obligations, Yoshiko. One way or another. If you're willing to trade, I'm presenting you with the best bargain I have available. If you're not, there's one other way to remove all your hooks from her. And anyone else."

"You would--" She stopped, and drank hot tea, tried to calm her shaking. Hated the way the little girl was still watching her, that the Elohite knew what she felt. "You would threaten to soul-kill me over _her_?"

"No. I wouldn't." This time Mannie's smile wasn't cold at all, only sad around the edges. "I don't care enough about her to go to all this trouble. But a friend of mine does, and asked me for help. I would do it for him."

Yoshiko set down the cup of tea. And pressed both palms against her face until she saw red patches inside her eyelids. "That _idiot_. I told her to be careful. I told her it was a stupid idea. And of course it's _me_ who ends up paying for it. I should have known better than to associate with the insane." She picked up her tea again. "So that's the choice you're offering me? Ditch ever hook I have in her, or get ripped apart?"

"There's a third choice," said the Elohite.

"Not really," said Mannie. "She's hardly a redemption candidate."

"Nearly as bad as you were, when you arrived at the Tether," said the angel Yoshiko had forgotten about. Yoshiko twitched, and turned to look at where the woman stood so silently in the corner of the room. Only watching.

"Ah. You do perhaps have a point." Mannie made another note in his book, and his expression was...embarrassed.

She'd never seen him look like that, before.

"You're not seriously suggesting that, are you?" she asked.

"Certainly not," Mannie said. "You're a comfortable Lilim of Vapula, settled into your Role, with no reason to want anything else." She didn't like the undercurrent of scorn to how he said it. "If you ran to Heaven, you'd lose everything you've spent so long building up. All your influence, reputation, resources, position... The Game would put more effort than you'd otherwise justify in trying to destroy you, by virtue of your Band. Trade everything for a risky chance at redemption? You're as likely to try that as you are to run off to Asmodeus after this to let him know you've been passing information to the Host, and talking to a supposed Renegade."

The Elohite laughed. "You only say that because you'd have one more schedule to work around when arranging the next Bright Lilim get-together, Mannie."

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to juggle those schedules? I'm still annoyed that Lin insisted I take a turn at arranging one."

"You could have said no." Yoshiko listened to the two of them in a bemused wonder. They spoke like old friends, Elohite and Lilim. (And the Game wouldn't know if she only _thought_ it, that maybe he had gone Bright, somehow. But someone like him? Impossible.)

"I tried. She got insistent. I tried harder, and she went teary-eyed. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to have a Servitor of Flowers sniffling at you in the middle of a coffee shop? I agreed out of self-defense." He took another sip from the cup of tea sitting beside him, and twitched. "Don't you have any coffee in the apartment?"

"No," Yoshiko said. A petty moment of revenge. "I don't like the taste."

"In any case. Better that I plan it than Cory. She invites her friends for, as she puts it, eye candy. Have you ever been to a party full of Malakim of War? Have you ever seen what they consider party games?"

The Elohite tugged on one pigtail. "The mind does recoil from attempting to imagine this. But we're straying from the point." She looked up at Yoshiko, face as serious as that of any child concerned over how the story in a book would end. "You don't have to decide now. But soon."

"You're only giving me one choice," Yoshiko said. And refused to believe there were any other choices than the one.


	25. In Which We Are Good, Not Nice

I would kill for a good cup of coffee, right now. I would only do so to someone who deserved the murder, given the angel of God status. However, as no demons have walked into the apartment with steaming cups in hand, I'm left with a lingering annoyance at having my caffeine habit interrupted.

And a nervous Lilim who's been trying not to look at me for the last few hours, except when she thinks I won't notice.

I've so seldom bothered to call in Geases outside of emergencies, it's unfamiliar to hold an active one that lasts longer than a few minutes. Like holding a pen over a blank piece of paper, and trying to decide what to write. Except in this case I passed the pen on to someone else, and I'm watching as the writing appears in front of me.

Yoshiko is at the top of the very short list of Lilim of Technology who I'd be willing to deal with like this. Most of them I'd simply destroy, as circumstances allowed; this might annoy Mother, but she's already full of reasons to dislike me, and Lilim ought to know better than to give help to someone playing dangerous games with the Host. Perhaps I ought to congratulate Aglaya in her good taste on choosing partners in crime. Of all the demons I know, this is the one I'd think least likely to stab her in the back. Admittedly, the competition there isn't fierce.

And drinking this colored water she calls tea is a strike against her. People pay for this?

"Could I get a refill?" Nosha asks, holding up her tea cup.

"I can't imagine why you'd want one." I take the cup back to the kitchen. "What are we up to?"

"February of this year."

I pour out hot tea. "What happened to January?"

"Nothing happened in January, that's what happened to it. I thought you were taking notes." Nosha receives the cup, has a sip, and appears to be enjoying it. I knew the Elohite could act.

I sit back down the floor. Not a chair to be found in the house; Yoshiko never hesitated to impose her preferences on visitors, even at the expense of annoying those she should've appeased. See also: why I have hooks on her. "I must have been distracted when January was referenced." I'd prefer to hurry this along, though for now I'll trust Nosha's judgment. The longer it takes to bring Yoshiko to choosing the only real option we're giving her, the more chance my batty little Ofanite will do something stupid. That he's usually able to bring success out of stupidity through enthusiastic determination isn't comforting at the moment. I wish he would call, but it's too early to call him myself when he might be in the middle of something.

Someone pounds on the front door. "Yoshi? Yoshi, lemme in!"

The Lilim's eyes go wide. "Oh, fuck. Um."

"Who is it?" 

"Jeff, this idiot Impudite I've been working on a project for. You wouldn't know him, I think, he's pretty young, has enough backing to pay..." She sets aside her computer, pauses in the act of standing up. "Can I--"

"Get rid of him, yes." I stand up and move into the kitchen where I'm not visible from the open door. "Try to make it snappy."

Yoshiko stomps over to the door, yanks it open. "Jeff, you idiot, what do you want?"

"I need that data set--"

"I'm still working on it!" 

"Can I come in?" I may not recognize the voice, but I recognize the whine of a young Impudite who hasn't learned how to deal with people who can't be easily Charmed.

"No, you can't. I have a client in here right now."

"Who?"

"Someone more important than you. Go away."

"But, Yoshi--"

"If it's important, drop me an email." The door slams shut again. "Idiot."

"There's another thing I don't miss about working for Vapula." I return to my place on the floor. At least she keeps this place vacuumed, the occasional touch of dog hair aside. "Whoever decided that seven-Force demons ought to be allowed into serious projects ought to be shot. Repeatedly. And then again after waking from Trauma, to make sure the lesson sticks."

"Add a few more rounds of shooting, and I'm right with you." She drops back down, and twitches as the hammering starts up again. "If he wasn't sleeping with that Habbalite, he'd never have lived this long. But he ought to shut up if I ignore him. Eventually."

The hammering continues. Yoshiko sighs, and drinks more tea.

"February?" Nosha has to raise her voice slightly to be heard over the noise.

"Right. February. You already reviewed what emails I didn't delete. She had me...mm. Was that month where that one lab disappeared overnight? Like, the actual building gone, nothing but faintly smoking foundations left behind. No fragments or anything. Because I remember she had me looking into that, checking up on reports of anyone new in the area right before it happened. Didn't find much."

"March," Zif says. Three pairs of eyes on her, but she only returns a bland expression to us. "That incident was early March. The morning of March second."

"You didn't tell me about _that_ one," I say.

"It didn't concern you, so there was no reason." And I've known my Cherub for long enough now to detect the trace of a smile around the corner of her lips. "However, if you want to review the reports, I'll email you the details when you get back home. Niele projected her memories of the event for recording, and you might enjoy the video."

The pounding at the door breaks off, and I catch the sound of Yoshiko swallowing nervously. Possibly not the best audience for stories of destroying Vapulan labs. "But don't let me interrupt," I say. "You were back in February."

"What's the _point_?" The Lilim turns her back to Nosha, shuddering. "You're going to kill me, or if you don't someone else will find out you were here and then the Game will get me, and it doesn't matter if I tell you anything or not. It's all going to end the same. And don't try telling me you wouldn't, because even if you swear to it yourself it's not going to stop either of _them_."

"Not every demon I've run into has been snatched up by the Game," I say. Nosha turns to frown at my tone, but I don't care that this Lilim is having her own little breakdown in front of me. I'm not about to pretend to be less impatient than I am. "Aglaya is proof of that." Though at this point I wish that Impudite _had_ been jumped by the Game the moment she came out of Trauma. It would have saved Kai and I a fair amount of trouble.

"She only saw you briefly during that whole mess with Hari, and got vessel-killed in the process. It's not the same as sitting around _talking_."

"Ah, yes. I'd nearly forgotten about the version of that incident she'd be telling."

Yoshiko twitches. Turns to face me again. "But that's not what happened?"

"How badly do you want to know?" I check Zif and Nosha, but neither is indicating I shouldn't give out this story. We're already playing with Aglaya's future; we might as well use all of her past, too. "You're talking about information that, so far as we can tell, no one on your side has acquired yet."

The Lilim bites her lip for a moment. "Two of the months I hold on her. What would that buy?"

"A general summary of events, focusing on her part in them."

"Deal." She waves one hand. "Two perfectly good Geases dropped. What happened?"

"Aglaya saw me on the street before that affair, and we spoke." Not that I'm about to detail the conversation involved, especially the list she passed on. It's not relevant to the conclusion, and thus not part of the deal. "She let Hari know that I was there, and then arranged to let me know that he was coming."

"Setting up a meeting between--she _is_ insane. I swear, she is."

"Possibly. Sanity debate aside, she did make sure Hari and I met again." And I am not saying anything about that part of the story. "Once he was sufficiently distracted, she got rid of the other demons who were guarding the area, and shot Hari in the back."

"And then you shot her."

"She did ask me to. It would have been difficult for her to justify being the only survivor. Aglaya still owes me for that."

"Amy told me you'd taken a favor owed for that. But she said it was to let her escape with nothing worse..." Yoshiko folds her arms tightly. "She would do something like that. Maybe being that cracked comes with being Fallen instead of Hellborn. No sense of self-preservation. I thought she was risking too much just to look for angels."

"Did she say why she wanted to do that?"

"Not in detail. I wasn't about to ask." Yoshiko pulls her knees up to her chest; her vessel looks even younger in that position. "You don't know either, do you?"

"We know what Aglaya told Kai," Nosha says. "It doesn't match what little she told you. Which of these stories her real intentions match, if either..." She spreads her sticky hands.

"Fucking insane Impudite. If both of us make it out of this mess alive, I'm going to kill her myself."

"No you won't," Nosha says.

"You're no Seraph."

"No," says Nosha, and twists a pigtail around one finger. "But you wouldn't. You care about her. Not enough to take serious risks on her behalf, but more than I'd expected from a demon."

"Great. So I marginally pass the angelic quiz about sufficient care for other people, can we move _on_?" The Lilim's shaking. Showing weakness in front of the enemy leads nowhere pleasant. Even showing weakness in front of friends seldom does. We all learned that early. 

Her phone rings, and she twitches.

"Is that a secure line?" I ask.

"What? No, it's just...you know. Cell phone."

"Give it two more rings, then answer," I say, and pull out my phone. Most of the insides of this gadget are devoted the complexities of calling between the corporeal and celestial realms, but I've had time to add a few more features. I flip through the menus, and set the phone to hunting for nearby signals to patch through to.

Yoshiko takes a quick breath, and flips open her phone. "Hello?"

My own phone clicks onto the appropriate signal. "--what to do," says a panicked voice on the other end. "Everything's turning complicated. I didn't expect him to call in more people."

Aglaya. What a pleasant surprise. I wave Yoshiko on to say something as she stares at me, realizing that I'm listening in.

"What happened?" she asks. Cooperative of her to choose appropriate questions. Points to the demon.

"I have a Cherub breathing down my neck, this kid is on friendly terms with _Judgment_ , the simple little project isn't simple because there are _two_ projects going on at once and we're not sure what either of them is, and...I don't know what to do, Yoshi."

"Run," the Lilim says. Not even a look to see if that's what I wanted her to say, though I think it's excellent advice. "Run as fast as you can, get _anywhere_ else. Once you're safely out of the way, give me a call. I'll come get you, or send someone who can. We can work out how much you owe me later."

"I can't." Aglaya never sounded so near tears in my encounters with her, recently or long ago. "I need to finish this."

"Kid, listen to me. You shouldn't have started, and you're obviously in way over your head. I don't care what you had planned, it's time to cut your losses and get out of there before they decide to drag you off to a Tether for debriefing. You owe me enough that one more favor isn't about to break you. Get out of there. What do you need from me to do that?"

"I don't think you can help me."

"Then why did you _call_?"

"I'm sorry. Never mind." The connection breaks off.

Yoshiko snarls out a few uncreative curses in Helltongue, and throws her phone across the room. "You _deserve_ to get shredded." Glares at Nosha. "Stop looking at me like that."

"It wouldn't make you feel any better," Nosha says. "Would you like more tea?"

"What I'd like is for you all to go away so that I can track down Amy, knock her unconscious, and drag her insane self out of there. But I'm not getting that, am I? So keep asking your questions and get this over with." The Lilim wraps her arms around her knees, and rests her head on top. "You have a year of my time if you want it, and I'm not going anywhere until you say so. Go ahead."

I bring her more tea anyway. Perhaps if we run through the entire box of tea bags I can convince Zif to let me acquire coffee.


	26. In Which Information Is Transmitted Efficiently

"So by the time anyone showed up the next morning, there was nothing left but the foundations of the building," Theo says, and grins at me. "Smoking. You really haven't seen the video?"

"No, I was busy filing the last time I spent more than a few days at a stretch in Heaven. Filing, categorizing, inventorying... I'd rather not talk about it. Who has the video?" My espresso ice cream is reduced to a miniature cone with a tiny dollop of ice cream at the top. Unfortunately, it always starts going drippy at this point in the process, which means I need to eat it whole instead of nibbling it down into an ever-smaller fractal ice cream cone. Some day, I'll figure out a way to get around that without coating the bottom of the cone with a hard chocolate shell. Now _that_ was a failed experiment. Though I did get to find out where they keep all the fire extinguishers in that room of the Halls of Creation.

"Niele, I believe. Or at least she made the video." He kicks stones when he walks, actually detours to whack them away, and watches them bounce until they're still again. I don't quite understand that. "Ever met her? Seraph, biology with a focus in zoology."

"Oh, sure. She came to help rescue me from a deathtrap once. was already out of it by the time she arrived, but I appreciated the thought. Weird encounter, that one, even by Vapulan standards."

"I've heard of that project," Aglaya says. She chose to buy the same flavor of ice cream as I have, but she's barely touched it. Fortunately, the day is cold enough that it hasn't started melting yet. An awfully pretty day, now that it's stopped raining, with a crisp late-autumn scent to the wind, and all the trees in the park rustling as it sweeps through them. "You only got sent to work on that one if someone was personally annoyed at you, but you were too valuable to destroy. Not the worst place to be assigned, but a very pointed gesture."

"I've only seen a few videos," Theo says. "It doesn't sound like a major threat, even if they ever finish up that theoretical research. Now, that contaminated flu vaccination incident, that got unpleasant. Even after dealing with the immediate threat. The number of Kyriotates required to go through an entire town's population to check the blood on every single person who'd gotten the shot..." Theo shakes his head. "Messy."

"You call that messy? You should have seen the aftermath of that one project of Hari's that took out a town in Russia. I got assigned to three months of explaining away that one to anyone who came looking. And the _smell_..." Aglaya shudders. "At least it was a small town."

"Was that the one in March of 1911?" I lick my fingers clean of remaining coffee ice cream stickiness.

"Yes," Aglaya says, and frowns at me. "Why do you ask?"

"Wasn't sure if it was the one Mannie was involved in, or a different one." She's still giving me an odd look. "I got a rundown on a lot of Mannie's history this one time when the Game had me chained up in a basement. Habbalite used to stand just out of reach and read through a list."

"Why?"

"To mess with my head, I guess. Who can say why the Game does anything? Maybe it was just to keep her entertained. Though what they did to my Role..." I still don't like to think about that. "She got up to about 1935 before I was kinda rescued."

"...kinda rescued?" The question comes from Theo this time.

"Well. The people who came to get me shot me. Which did get me out of that situation, but I could've done without losing the vessel. Complicated issues. Can't blame them for wanting to be sure of not leaving me there no matter what, but it was the last vessel Dad had given me. So it's _like_ being rescued, except not quite, because I'm sure most rescuers don't shoot the rescuee." I am, perhaps, still a bit annoyed over that.

Theo moves to walk closer beside me. "No Cherubim among the people who planned that rescue?"

"Two showed up, but they were there to watch Mannie, not to help get me out. Why do you ask?"

"Just a hunch," Theo says, and Aglaya coughs to not quite cover a laugh.

An old man sitting on a park bench lifts his head, waves to us, and walks over more briskly than anyone that decrepit-looking ought to be able to. "Greetings again," says the Kyriotate, ducking its head to us. "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Of course," I say. "What's the news? Or did you need help with anything?"

"I've been doing investigation of my own into these demons," the Kyrio says, and ambles along the path beside us. "Even if I've lost the chance to save the woman I watched, I might still work against those who murdered her. The demons sometimes walk the grounds of the center, and speak with each other out of reach of any human listeners. I can't understand their speech, but I recorded some portions of it. If I interpreted your actions correctly, one of you can interpret this, correct? The information may be of some use."

"I can understand it," says Aglaya, and I hope the Kyriotate reads her sudden tension as that of a redeemed being reminded of Hell. "How were you able to record the conversations?"

"A set of small digital recording devices," it says, "and a series of squirrels. Unfortunately, pigeons are unable to manipulate such small controls reliably, though they can carry the recorders to the squirrels."

"Nice trick." I do a quick spin, because the walk alone is slow for my tastes.

"I could hardly work on the corporeal for so many centuries without picking up a few tricks, Wheel. The increasingly miniaturized nature of current electronics delights me to no end." It holds out a hand, and a pigeon flutters down to deposit a small black rectangle there. "Here's the first. It will take me a few minutes to retrieve the others."

I put my hand in its host's. "What could this one use? He seems to be in poor health, and while I'm no doctor, I could give him a few more years." I don't use that aspect of my Dad's attunement much; I can't do it fast enough to destroy a demon's Role the way some can (and believe me, a demon who suddenly finds his vessel is twelve years old while holding down a serious Role has problems), and there's not often a need for me to pass as a child or middle-aged.

"The gesture would be appreciated," the Kyrio says, and so I hold onto that wrinkled hand, concentrate, pull out the years one by one from the man's body. "He has a few regrets which he may yet be able to address, given the time. Thank you."

"Happy to help. How many conversations did you record?"

"Approximately two hours. I was limited in my ability to record more for fear of attracting notice. Few squirrels carry recording devices with them, in my experience. The time constraints on each device of a sufficiently small size to be carried by those hosts also required frequent changes, so there will be gaps."

"Still better than what we had before."

Several pigeon visits later, I've passed six tiny recorders on to Theo, we've done a complete circuit of the cold pond in the center of the park, and the Kyriotate shuffles back towards the bench to leave its host where he started. 

"Back to the hotel," Theo says. "I know you'd rather stay outside, but we may want to refer to the files."

"I'll live." Three circuits of the pond have done wonders for my mood. Not quite as good as a zippy car chase down a near-empty freeway, but it's not often I can get one of those. "Aglaya, were you going to finish that?"

She glances down at her ice cream cone. "I don't think so. You want?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

Heading back into the expensive walled-up hotel room becomes far easier with a second dose of ice cream.

Aglaya and Theo end up hovering over the recorders, but they'll let me know if anything important comes up, so I adjourn to the second room, push the connecting door almost shut, and give Mannie a call. Hearing from him usually puts me in a better mood, and I could use another push in that direction. There's only so much I can do to relegate certain recent events to the "fix it later" box in my mind.

"Kai. How's it going?" That's English, not angelic, which means he's downstairs again. And a restrained note of worry in his voice.

"We're getting by. Guess it's a good thing Theo and Aglaya are here, because left to my own devices, I'd just be working my way through known demons until either I figured out what was going on or ran out of demons. I think they're investigating the project itself. What a concept, right?" I kick off my shoes and take to the bed. This vessel is just enough heavier than my last one that I need to be careful about how hard I jump, but the basic principles still apply. "See, this is why I prefer motels to hotels. The beds here are nice enough that I feel guilty about jumping on them too hard. If the whole thing's already sagging, no guilt!"

"Ah. I suppose so. No signs of imminent trouble?"

"Maybe lurking in the corners, but so far they don't know what we're doing and we don't know what they're doing, so Theo's only worried instead of paranoid. Does Zif get clingy when you're on Earth? Or is it only when Cherubim first get near their attuned? I'm half an hour away from asking for more space, and he's only been here two days. He can be three yards away and still be hovering. I can take care of myself."

"I would find that assertion more convincing if you didn't run through vessels at a rate that would make a Malakite proud. This is your fifth now, correct?"

"Details. Anyway, how's it going on your end? Track down who you needed to? I can ask Aglaya again--"

"That won't be necessary. I'm taking care of it."

I drop onto my back on the bed, enjoy the momentary full-horizontal bounce. Roll off the side and spin around the room. "You are, as always, a wonder." With anyone else I'd say, "I owe you," but that phrasing makes Mannie twitchy, so I settle for something less commercial. "Should've known you could figure it out. How'd you do that?"

"Information from a Seraph who woke up from Trauma. Aglaya had asked her certain questions before killing the Seraph's vessel."

I stop spinning, though the room continues for a moment. "Oh."

"Even if it annoys you at times, try to stay close to Theo." The unspoken part: because I ought to remember cute helpful vulnerable Aglaya is an Impudite older than I am with practice dealing in the politics of Hell.

Mannie can be remarkably good at conveying things without saying them, when he wants to be.

"Understood." So much for this phone call cheering me up, though it's still good to hear from him. "And, let me guess, you're right in the middle of taking care of this messy project I dropped on you, so I should let you get back to that?"

"As perceptive as ever. Be careful."

I put away my phone, and...spin. Dance and spin, working out all the old moves on this new body. I don't want to go back into that other room yet. Not until I'm ready to look at her again.


	27. An Intermission With Lilim And Bright Lilim

When Mannie put away his phone, Yoshiko said, "You told me in the car that you were tied a half-dozen ways to Heaven. Would that be one of them?"

He didn't have to answer her. But he nodded.

"How many ties?" No one was interrupting her yet. If she became too impertinent, they'd let her know.

"Five," he said. If his expression was near-unreadable behind those sunglasses, his voice was so blank it could only mean that this mattered to him and he didn't wish to reveal how much.

What a wonder, that he would answer her questions, even as he held the Geas. "Do they all have names?"

"Every one of them," he said.

The idea of going Renegade, leaving behind her Mother, her Prince, her friends and debts and Hell itself, was inconceivable.

But the naming of those chains, that much she could understand.


	28. An Intermission With Lightning, Technology, And Creation

Aglaya passed the fourth transcription to the Cherub, reached for the fifth recorder. Paused. "He's still in there. Long phone call?"

"Possibly. Or maybe he needs some space." Theo shrugged. "Some angels react poorly to being attuned to."

"Why?" She had the recorder in hand, but didn't want to set it playing yet. And she was beginning to hate the way Theo's expression shaded into disgust every time the Helltongue crackled out. "You'd do anything to protect him. How could he not appreciate that?"

"Some take it as a sign that they're considered too weak or irresponsible to take care of themselves. A few wonder if they're being watched for misbehavior. And sometimes..." Theo shrugged. "They don't like the responsibility. It's different than attuning to humans. An angel will worry about putting itself in enough danger that I might risk dissonance, even if that's not _their_ problem."

"I hadn't thought about it that way." The look she received suggested he was taking the response as facetious. "Seriously. It just... I mean, it's not something I thought about much, and it's not how I reacted--"

No, there were places she didn't want to go, not in front of him. Aglaya picked up the fifth recorder.

"When you had a Cherub attuned to you," Theo said. Too late to avoid the subject.

She turned the little black rectangle about in her hands. Always technology marched onward, a thousand uses in a thousand forms, and even the angels of Lightning who grumbled about releasing such things too early would use any gadgets they found convenient, no matter where those things originated. Pragmatic, efficient Lightning, prepared to keep all the marvels they'd discovered to themselves. "I suppose you've read my file. They still keep files on everyone, don't they?"

"We do."

"I can't imagine mine is large." A few lines of data about how well she'd done in her classes, maybe a page or two about her first, and only, assignment on Earth.

"We haven't stopped compiling data about your activities since you jumped ship, Aglaya. It's only been harder to come by and less reliable." He had such a clinical tone, like the Elohite who'd taken all the Mercurians and Mercurians-to-be aside for a session about dealing with humans on Earth. Explaining carefully the dangers particular to her Choir, how expectations built up from experience with blessed souls couldn't be trusted among humanity at large.

"It doesn't help," she said, and it sounded as if her own voice came from a little black box, a thousand miles away. "If they decide to get you, it doesn't matter if you have a Cherub attuned to you. They sang up a cloud to block her resonance, and she didn't even know when they came for me." That had been a strange comfort, when she'd found out. Her Guardian hadn't abandoned her. Had simply...never known, until it was too late.

"I know," said Theo. "I spoke with her before setting out."

"I'm sorry," said Aglaya. "It probably doesn't matter to her, by now. But I am sorry."

"It would have hurt her less if you'd died."

Aglaya nodded. Kept turning the recorder about in her hands, though she couldn't feel it anymore, and the room had turned January-cold around her. She was glad that door was still closed. "I should have. Or at least, I should have tried. Pain and Trauma are, in retrospect, small things to fear, compared to every other sort of tragedy. I don't know if they would have found a way to push me celestial and tear me apart, if I'd been...stronger. Not fought back. I suppose what-ifs don't matter. What's done is done."

"The matter seems to have been decided." Theo sat down on the bed. It didn't make him look any less threatening. With his jacket off, she could see the tattooed flames curling all around his wrists and forearms, a sign of she didn't know what. Fashion or fanaticism, though he didn't seem concerned with either. "Why are you doing this, Aglaya?"

"You expect an honest answer?"

"No. But I'd like to hear the current story." There was none of Kai's sympathy in that voice, and she wasn't sure if that made the question better or worse.

Better. Easier to answer if she didn't care what he thought. 

"I...don't like my job. Or my coworkers. Or my Superior. Even if I'm no fan of Lightning's party line either, I hate what these people are doing." It sounded plausible enough, didn't it? Present him with a shell of truth, and maybe he wouldn't notice how hollow the interior was.

The Cherub sighed. "Never mind. Let's get back to work."

Aglaya set down the recorder on the desk. "It won't help."

"What?"

"Sending you to protect him. It won't work, if they decide they want him. I didn't even know they were coming. Neither of us did. In the end, all it did was hurt her more for having attuned to me. For caring about me." As if her voice were coming from someone else. "I wish you weren't here. I hate seeing people get hurt. Even when I'm doing it."

"Aglaya--"

She smiled. It was a sweet smile, charming without being aggressive. She'd learned it back in Heaven, when it had only been a way of reassuring people, with no deceit behind the expression. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to worry you. Just...bad memories."

Theo snorted. "I trust that about as far as I can throw you. Which is, incidentally, about a room and a half."

"I'll keep that in mind." She stood up. "I'm going to see what's keeping Kai. You can lurk along if you're that worried about what I might do to him."

It was a relief, though, when the Cherub didn't follow her. He knew she didn't mean any harm.

Not the sort of harm he understood.

She found the Ofanite pacing. No surprise there. He glanced over as she entered, but didn't say anything, and that was a surprise, not a good one. "Get a chance to talk to Mannie again?" she asked.

"Yeah." Kai wasn't looking at her.

"Did something go wrong?"

"Nothing new. Just new information. This one Seraph just woke up from Trauma." He wasn't trying to keep his tone neutral, and it felt like sliding downhill, straight back to where she'd started. "Don't suppose you'd know anything about that?"

Aglaya closed her eyes, and wished the room weren't so cold. "It was necessary, Kai."

"Want to explain how? Because I'm not seeing it."

"There's a Habbalite in the area who worked out that she was an angel. He sent a few Hellsworn in to capture her, bring her in for him to...work on." When she opened her eyes again he was watching. Standing still to listen to what she might say. Look deep enough into those eyes, and see the wheel of fire spinning behind them. "I found out and got in on the plan. Once I had the information I needed, I killed her vessel so that they couldn't turn her over to the Habbalite."

"How...honorable." That wasn't entirely sarcasm, which gave her a touch of hope. She would not consider what she might hope for.

"And pragmatic. If I let them take her, she might have told them what I'd asked. Which would have led to questions I didn't want to answer." Aglaya spread her hands. "I didn't have selfless reasons, and I did coax out information she didn't want to give me. But I kept her from being held longer by the forces of Hell."

"What did you ask her about?"

So they hadn't passed on all the details. He'd find out eventually. Aglaya let the shiver pass over her, knowing he'd notice and remember why she'd be so cold. "Her Role is the sister to yours. I was looking for some angel of Lightning who I could pass information to. Anyone I used to know would try to kill me or refuse to speak with me, but you... I knew you were going to be angry, but that you'd _listen_ if I could find you someplace public first."

The Ofanite sighed, and returned to pacing. Around her, this time. "So you killed my little sister to save her from the demons and get my address. And somehow this is supposed to be a _good_ thing."

"Not good. Only...better than the alternatives." Aglaya laughed shortly. "I don't get to do good things, Kai. It comes with being a demon. The best I can manage is to use evil in the service of good."

"You can--"

"No. I can't. Please don't ask."

"I don't understand you, Aglaya." She stood still, the better to be circled. And if she closed her eyes, she could imagine being surrounded by a ring of fire, but that wasn't a place she wanted to go. "Maybe it's just as well that I don't. What have you worked out from the recordings?" Just like that, the subject dropped and an easy glide to a more comfortable topic. She could never tell if it was deliberate or only that his conversations were like a rock skipping across the pond of what went on in his mind.

"Useful information. The demon in charge of this project has his own private experiments. The authorized project seems to be connected to the research done in the center, though we can't say how. The captured angels and ethereal were his own. I believe if we go back and check those financial records again, we'll see that he's been siphoning a large amount of his assigned funds to buy that equipment. And, most recently, to hire three new demons for security. Servitors of Fire. Standard mercenaries for this sort of situation. We'll need to be careful; they won't care much about Role maintenance or disturbance."

"Fun." And he sounded as if he meant it, quicksilver smile and one hand moving thoughtfully to his jacket's pocket. "Any idea what Bands? Or how powerful they might be?"

"At least one Calabite. Theo will insist you stay out of range."

"Not like I haven't run into Calabim before." The lack of understanding was mutual. Why would he want to step into danger instead of keeping out of the way? "We'll work something out. Do we have a plan?" He spun out of orbit to open the door, wander back into the other room. "Because I could try coming up with a plan, but it's likely to involve explosions."

"No wonder you get along so well with those Windies," Theo said. "But I'd like to keep this quieter than _that_. See if we can pull this demon out of the research center while leaving the human structures intact. Whether or not their research is feasible, it wouldn't do to discourage them."

"We've got one of the doctors out and dead, the director of the place discovered murdered once Neski can't keep that covered up any longer... Someone's going to check his house, Theo. And that's assuming the two Impudites that went down weren't important enough to draw attention. All this after the human they killed. And we need to remove one more demon. How quiet do you think we can keep it?" Kai had left his shoes in the other room, and stepped up to the arm of the couch in this one, walked along its back with his fingers brushing the ceiling. "Unless we can pin all the deaths on that one Vapulan, and that's a more evidence-doctoring than I'm up to."

"If we can isolate him, and lead police towards him with sufficient evidence..." Theo frowned. "Against a Balseraph, as I suspect this one is? Or any number of other infernal resonances... No, that would be difficult without investing serious resources."

"Plant a gun on the doctor, and have a Kyriotate take over a police officer?" Aglaya suggested. "One regrettably necessary shooting later, you have a public death, and less evidence is needed to convict a dead man than a live one."

"He's unlikely to go down with one bullet, and having a mild-mannered professor, gun-wielding or not, shot six times in the course of duty would do that police officer's career no good," Kai said. "I suspect Neski would quibble. How about a sudden overnight disappearance, signs of a rushed packing job, and lots of partially destroyed evidence left behind? For getting rid of bodies, I think the Cherub and a Malakite of Animals nearby would be interested in helping. I could give them a call. They might be busy, butthey do kinda owe me."

"I'd prefer something more subtle, but..." Theo pulled out a little handheld computer, and began taking notes. As far as Aglaya could see, it was nothing more than a cutting-edge version of the same ones anyone else could buy on Earth. "Effective beats out subtle when it comes to completing a mission."

"Now that's my kind of mission approach." The Ofanite flipped backwards off the couch, landed neatly on his feet. "Let's see. Priorities. We need to eliminate the hired security before anything else, and part of that is getting them out of mortal sight." He ran one hand along furniture and the walls at every point where he turned, as if he were itemizing them. "So we need to draw them out, take them down fast, locate the Vapulan before he can run or call in support, eliminate him out of sight of any witness we can't Kyrio, get rid of the bodies, and arrange the cover-up. Tricky. But doable. Since we're not sure what either project is, how much support can we call in? Especially given that we're running out of time before a cover-up becomes impractical."

"A few tools. Maybe an extra Kyriotate to help with the cleanup, once we reach that stage. We don't have enough evidence to justify a proper strike team." The Cherub looked to Aglaya. "What can you bring into this?"

"I have one effective weapon. But I can't let any of them see me."

"So you shoot them from behind," Kai said, and grinned at her. "Problem solved."

"Is everything that simple to you?"

"Generally, yes. I like a straightforward approach to things." The Ofanite ran at hand across the desk next to her as he paced by. "I save complexity for my art, where I can appreciate it."

"The plan is complex enough to go wrong in a dozen ways already," Theo said. "Let's see what we can work out from the information we have."

It wasn't belonging. She couldn't possibly belong. But as they worked through the plan, when she spoke, they listened.

And Kai smiled at her again.


	29. In Which I Am Cruel

I have an entire notebook of information by the time Yoshiko finishes with Nosha's questions. Most of it peripheral, despite my attempts to organize and sift out what mattered as the conversation progressed. But what information I have, I'll work with. I've dealt with shoddier research and less complete data sets before.

Tuning out Nosha and Yoshiko's subsequent conversation comes easily; they seem to be discussing video games and comic books. Not anything that interests me, or that relates to what we need, but I trust the Elohite is pushing her in useful directions. I begin pulling pages out of my notebook to sort them.

I can't do this with computers; short of covering an entire wall with displays, and what a horrific image _that_ is, there's only so much I can examine at a time on the computer screen. Here, I can physically arrange every separate page on the floor, spread them out and group them by similarities, hypothesize another point of comparison and see how much the groupings change, or don't change.

After several minutes I come up with reasonably consistent groupings, for five separate points of comparison.

Interesting.

"What are you doing?" Yoshiko asks, breaking off halfway through some babbling about one plot line or another of whatever it is they're on now.

"Examining the shadow from multiple angles, to hypothesize more accurately about the three-dimensional object." I sit up straight again, and snap her a quick smile. "You wouldn't be interested."

"You're talking about what my favorite insane Impudite has been doing, of course I'm interested. But that looks like two stacks of paper."

"Yes. Divided precisely by date, once I accounted for when she'd asked for the information, not when you delivered it. While the sorts of incidents and research Aglaya looked into changed little in their general categories, the focus did a ninety-degree turn at this point. I'd like to know what changed."

Nosha takes out her green lollipop, twirls it around in one hand. Some day I'll have to ask if it's some sort of talisman, or only window dressing to go with the vessel. "So what's the disconnect? Summarized. Going into details of how you reached that conclusion might take too long."

"Likely." Explaining my own internal thought processes can be difficult at times, especially when I reach one of those beautiful moments where everything resolves into an answer, and I can't explain _why_ I've reached the conclusion, only that all the pieces did indeed work. "Up until about four months ago, she was compiling another list like the one she gave us before. After that point, she was looking for Kai."

"She wasn't looking for anyone in particular," Yoshiko says. "For one person out of a set of possibilities, yes--"

"No, she was looking for him. Even assuming that she was doing research on the side and only came to you for help with the parts she couldn't handle personally. The information may be incomplete, but it's not imprecise."

"Possibly she'd finished the list, and wanted to pass it off to someone reliable?" Nosha suggests, but her frown tells me she doesn't think this is likely.

"First, if she wanted to send it in safely, she could have mailed it to any one of a number of Tethers," I say. "And be sure that we'd treat it as seriously as the first one she gave us. Second, she hasn't had enough _time_ to compile a proper list. The one she gave us had to take several years of investigation."

"Wait, what list?" Yoshiko asks. She stands up abruptly, and stalks into the kitchen. Pours herself a cup of tea. "Assuming you're willing to tell me."

"I have no pressing need to hide the secrets of one demon from another," I say. At least not in these circumstances, and with this particular combination of demons. "I mentioned that Aglaya and I spoke before that encounter with Hari. At the time, she gave me a list." I pause.

The Lilim sighs, sitting down again. "Fine, _another_ week gone. Sufficient?"

"Probably not, but I'm in a generous mood. Aglaya gave me a list of potential redemption candidates within Technology, as well as addresses for their current projects."

That results in exactly the shocked silence from her that I was expecting.

"Ordinarily I wouldn't want to spread that information around, but we've run through the list, and you know enough to blackmail Aglaya a dozen times over." I fold the first set of papers into a neat bundle and deposit them in an inside pocket of my jacket. We can follow through on those investigations ourselves later, regardless of what happens to the Impudite. "Do you remember anything that happened to Aglaya four months back?"

"...she _what_?"

"Do try to keep up, Sister."

"She's...she just..." Yoshiko hasn't quite gotten past the shock yet. "Why? Why is she doing this?"

"Excellent question, and one we'd all like an answer to. If you have any theories, by all means, share them with the the class."

"She's...trying to buy her way back to Heaven?"

"If that were the case," Nosha says quietly, "she would have accepted our offer when we made it."

Yoshiko's gaze won't leave me. Well. I'm not one to entirely avoid risks. I pull off my sunglasses, let her read whatever Needs she can find in my eyes. All I can see in hers is a lingering desire to finish up projects she's taken on before her clients come asking for results, and I don't want to look deeper. "Do you remember anything that changed four months ago?"

"...no. I don't know. Maybe." The Lilim stares down at the floor. "She's a good actor when she wants to be. Everything seemed fine, fine, fine. If she doesn't want me to know she's upset, I won't know. But...she did get more, um, willing. To take on Geases for what she needed. Stopped bargaining so hard. Or at all. I guess that might have been around four months ago. Didn't notice at first."

Which seems to eliminate the hopeful but unlikely theory that Aglaya finally decided to try for redemption, and wanted to find Kai to bring her in. A willingness to accept more Geases doesn't bode well, and how many other Lilim might she owe by now? "Outside pressure," I say. "But what type, and if it's knowing or only threatening to..."

"You've lost me," says Nosha. "With more words, this time?"

"Ah. Obviously, Aglaya changed tactics. None of her personal motivations would lend themselves well to the evidence. Which suggests the change came from outside pressure. We don't have enough information to tell if this is a matter of someone who knows what she's done blackmailing her, or that she's trying to form some sort of defense against incipient discovery. She's not so stupid as to take out Geases quickly unless she's very worried and pressed for time."

"Or unless it doesn't matter," Yoshiko says softly. "If she's already so deeply in debt she doesn't believe more Geases will make any difference. If she doesn't expect to survive."

"While Kai does run through demons' vessels even faster than his own, she doesn't have much to fear from that quarter," I say. "Coercion or threats would have to be coming from the Horde. But this will work very differently if she's dealing with immediate blackmail than if she only suspects it may be coming."

Yoshiko looks up. "Tell me," she says, "this angel Amy's currently running about with. If demons came after her, what would he do?"

One charming little Impudite playing redemption bait at him, and Kai would defend her against all the armies of Hell. Or try. "I need to make a call," I say, and I'm out the front door before anyone inside can protest.

In the empty hallway, there's a window at the end letting in light from the streetlights. I stay out of its direct line of view from outside (haven't had to worry about snipers in years, and still I remember that much) and call Kai.

No answer. Which can mean...any number of things, not least of which being that he's busy right now and can't get the phone. I drop two notes of Essence into my most useful Song, and discover that at least he's still in the right direction, about the right distance. Not in Trauma.

Now. Do I intend to be reasonable, cautious, and follow the most suitable course of action? Or will I let my emotions get in the way of what I ought to do?

Who am I kidding? If I let caution and reason get in the way of my personal attachments, I wouldn't be Bright.

I walk back into the apartment, shut the door firmly behind me. "He's not answering. Still on the corporeal, but... I don't know."

Yoshiko hides her expression behind her cup of tea. "They let you keep a hook on an angel?"

"Only the one. I like to know where he is." I could ascend to my Heart now, get a loan of Essence to refill what I've used from someone in the office, and...jump down a Tether hours from his current location, waste far too much time tracking him down, and give Zif headaches. This is the sort of plan where, if a subordinate had presented it to me a few years ago, I would have shot them to make a point. "Zif--"

"No," she says. "He has his own Cherub to watch for him. You're working on guesswork. There's no clear reason to believe he might be in danger." Her mouth twitches. "In more danger than usual."

"And I'd like to keep it that way!"

The pounding starts up on the apartment door again, and if I had a gun at hand right now, I _would_ shoot whoever's on the other side of the door. "Yoshi! Come on, Yoshi, open up, you've been in there for like a whole day now, and I need that data--"

The Lilim stands up, stalks over to the door, slides on the latch-chain, and then opens it no wider than the chain will allow. "Jeff, go away. I'll get you the data by Monday like I _said_ I would. Is today Monday? No."

"But it's Sunday night, and I need to have looked over it on Monday morning for the meeting--"

"Then you should have asked to have it by Sunday. You didn't. I have other priorities." She tries to push the door closed, but the Impudite shoves his foot in. "Jeff--"

"Come on, I can owe you more, but I need this data."

"It's not ready." She's not so good an actor as some, and I wonder how much of her rising panic Jeff is picking up on. "Just--look, come back in two hours and I can get it ready, okay? But I'm busy right now."

"What's going on, Yoshi?"

"Nothing!" She kicks his foot away, slams the door shut, and locks it. "Idiot."

The pounding doesn't resume, and Yoshiko's shoulders slump. "Right," she says. "This is over my head, I'm in trouble no matter which way I turn, and you're in a hurry. Let's make a deal."

"You're not in much of a position to deal," I say. And there are a few Judges who will want to have long serious talks with me if I voluntarily take a Geas from a demon.

"And you, dear child of my Mother, are in a hurry. Here's an offer. I'll help you rescue your wayward Ofanite if you'll help me rescue my insane Impudite. Does that sound fair? I'll drop every Geas but one worth an hour on Aglaya once it's settled."

The temptation exists. But I shake my head. "You can't do much more to help me at this point, and I won't lock myself into trying to save an Impudite with a death wish."

"Then let me come along. I can get Amy out of the way of whatever you need to do, she'll be out of your plans."

"You can't take a shortcut through an angelic Tether, even if we were willing to--"

The door splinters as something heavy hits from the other side, and both of us jump. "Trouble," says Nosha, reaching into her bulky pink jacket for a sharp knife. "Yoshiko, do people often break down your door?"

"No..." She backs away to stand beside me as the door shudders and acquires another crack. "They couldn't just _knock_?"

"It's rather like knocking," Nosha says. "Only knocking very hard." She's found two knives, and isn't bothering to play at cute any longer.

Zif steps in front of me, and the door breaks open.

The fashionably-dressed young man in the back must be Jeff; he has the look of someone who spends time coaxing and whining. One of Nosha's knives sprouts from his right eye, and he falls back, squealing. The heavyset woman in front of him I'd read as Djinn, and I would be more concerned about seeing her there if Zif weren't already stepping in for a quick touch and a great deal of electricity. 

I'm feeling superfluous here. "Stay," I tell Yoshiko, and then I move forward to lend Zif a hand. The Djinn obviously wasn't expecting two angels with Jean's Generator attunement to come at her; she fumbles in the momentary blindness, and I throw enough Essence into my own surge of electricity to drop her to the floor.

Nosha scrambles past me, disappears somewhere into the hall, while Zif pulls out a silenced gun to put three bullets into the Djinn's head. There's down, and then there's staying down, and my Cherub has never been the sort to trust down.

"Apparently he _really_ needed that data by Monday," I say, and turn back to Yoshiko. Who's standing there trembling. "I don't suppose you know of any convenient nearby locations to dump a body?"

"They _saw_ you here--"

"And promptly ended up in Trauma, yes. We have at least a day, probably two or three, before this becomes a problem. Unless they told people where they were going. Any idea why Jeff the useless Impudite would have a Djinn with him?"

"It's his...um. Mentor. Oh. They're going to _kill_ me, I just know it, they saw _you_..."

"That's not my problem, Sister, and you're not giving me any reason to make it my problem." I examine the shattered remains of the door. "Even if your neighbors are so uncurious as to not investigate this noise, we've lost anything one might call privacy. Time to relocate."

Nosha reappears in the doorway, knives bloody. "Problem. He jumped back to his Heart before I could finish him."

"...time to relocate _quickly_ ," I amend.

"They're going to kill me," Yoshiko whimpers, and I don't have the time to coax her along now. I turn to look her in the eyes.

"Sister. I offered you a choice earlier. Choose now. Drop your Geases and wait here, break your Heart and follow us, or die. What do you want?"

"That's no choice!"

"It's as much of one as our Mother gave us. Make up your mind now, or I swear I'll make it up for you."

I wonder what she sees in my eyes.


	30. An Intermission With Wind And Lightning

Sharon balanced on one foot, on the topmost twig of a tree in the Groves. It would have been easier to ignore gravity entirely and float upward, but the novelty of standing on twigs outweighed the novelty of flying, at least for the moment. Besides, if she went too high up the wind became too difficult to manage.

A reliever broke through the leaves beside her, clutching a tiny glowing stone and giggling madly. "Do me a favor," Sharon said, before it could get any further. "Deliver a message for me?"

"Sure!" The reliever dropped the stone into her waiting hands. "Who where why what? Hurry hurry rush!"

"Jaasau, Ofanite of the Wind. Tell it that Sharon wants to speak with it."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

She smiled to see it spin away into the winds above, let itself be tossed here and there as the gusts took it. Switched to her other foot to wait, and soon enough a Cherub, its form that of a winged dog, scrambled up through the leaves beside her. It wore the official harness of a Judge on duty in a triad, and seemed...concerned. "Pardon me," said the Cherub, "but have you seen--"

"Someone with your recording crystal? Funny you should ask." Sharon passed it the little rock. "Spot-checks on Windies?"

"...yes." The Cherub worked the crystal back into its slot. "And I was watching the one we were interviewing very closely in case it should try anything--"

"And completely missed the reliever."

"...yes."

"It happens." She sat cross-legged on the top leaves of the tree. "It's amazing how many times people will set up their security to notice and catch the big scary obvious dangers and miss something...smaller. Or simpler."

The Cherub cocked one ear in her direction. "You served the Wind, back on Earth?"

"For a while. Not very long. There was something appropriate about being done in by a human, after dodging undead and demons and what have you."

"You do Heaven a great service, to serve and die knowing the dangers that face you."

"And I'm hoping to do so again. But I bet you need to get back to your triad."

"I ought," said the Cherub, and its tone implied this wasn't its favorite course of action. But it turned and climbed awkwardly back down through the tree.

Sharon leaned back, hands behind her head, and watched the interplay in the sky above. Maybe later it would be time to join in the games of tag, but for now she was waiting.

A group of four relievers tumbled by her, giggling to each other, and she waved them over. "Could you deliver a message for me?"

"Sure!" said one of them, doing loops in front of her. "I can do it!"

"But I could do it," said another. "And faster."

"How about you all deliver the message for me? That way I can be _really_ sure it gets there."

The relievers didn't even pause to consider. "Sounds like fun! We could each take a part--"

"--or we could each say the whole thing--"

"--or we could all say it together--"

"However you want, kids. Go tell Jaasau, Ofanite of the Wind, that Sharon wants to speak with it, okay?"

"Oh, I know where to find it!" cried one of the relievers, and it flew away, the other three trailing along behind.

After a few more minutes, watching alone became boring, and so Sharon turned to other amusements. All those times when they'd needed to lie low in some safe house for a few days, and Kai'd been going nearly mad with the limits on space, or she'd been going mad with watching the Ofanite _pace_ , they'd worked out lessons. She had all the talent for ballet, as Kai put it (but too nicely to mind), that the average duck had for bicycling, but she wasn't trying for grace, only...movement.

Sharon danced across the top of the tree, and spun her arms around her.

"What's that?" asked a small reliever, clinging to a branch near her.

"Ballet," she said, and dropped back down to sit still again. "But I'm not much good at it. My type of dance usually involves arrows running up a screen. Could you take a message to someone for me?"

"Right! Who to?"

"Jaasau, Ofanite of the Wind."

"But it's right there," said the reliever, and pointed to an ever-spinning wheel of fire not far above, and coming closer. "What do you want to tell it?"

"I think," Sharon said, "you can just tell it that I'm here."

"Okay!"

Sharon stood still, and bowed politely as the Ofanite settled down in front of her. All its interior rings continued to spin, interlocking loops whirling at a dozen different speeds. "Thanks for coming," she said.

"I could hardly not," said the Ofanite. "Considering that I can't go five minutes without another reliever arriving with your message. Or another pack of relievers. I admire your focus. How may I help you?"

"I need to get back to Earth. I worked for the Wind before, you know that I can handle the job description. You're in charge of arranging for Windy Saints to head back--"

"Sharon, you did marvelously as a Soldier, but Saints handle different types of work. Besides," added the Ofanite kindly, "you've barely arrived. In another few months, once you've had longer to adjust, we can look into it again."

"You're just not letting me go back because of Jack," Sharon said.

"That is a factor, yes. The danger's too great."

"I can handle the peril," Sharon muttered. Sighed. "Fine. How about this? Let me go back to Earth, but only temporarily. I can talk with my mother, work things out, then we turn over my life story to some Windy who needs a serious Role, and I come back here. Think about it. It's as complete a Role as you're ever going to find, because I did all the boring parts for you. And it's a Role that covers running around the country breaking into buildings and shooting things that need shooting. Besides, if Jack..." She took a deep breath. "If Jack notices, and thinks it's me back on Earth, you'll have a chance to grab him and drag him back to a place where his friends can pound some sense into him again."

"Tempting," said the Ofanite, and its flames burned higher, sending off faint red sparks into the sky. "But Saints aren't put on Earth for short-term assignments like that."

"Jaasau, are you telling me that the Wind is going to turn down a valuable resource on account of tradition and what's _usually_ done?"

The Ofanite laughed. It wasn't like the sound of any human laugh she'd ever heard, but it made her smile. "You _are_ persistent. I'll present the idea to my Lord Janus, and see what we can do. No promises, mind, but I like the way you think. If this does work out, you'll go on the list for returning to Earth later."

"Thank you," she said.

"You're quite welcome. But the next time you need to get my attention... One reliever, please."

"And you'll come?"

"With all due haste, believe me." The Ofanite spun away into the sky again, a trail of sparks crackling behind.

She climbed back down the tree, and set off for the Halls of Progress.

Sharon found Teresa in her office, working on something that required three monitors and a box full of flashing lights. "I'm busy," the Mercurian snapped, and then blinked. "Sharon. Do come in. Sit down..." She waved vaguely around the office. "Somewhere that you can find the space. What can I help you with?"

"Is Mannie back? I want to see how that project is going, and he's easier to badger information out of than Gariel is." There didn't seem to be anything chair-like in the office that wasn't covered in delicate-looking machinery, and the floor was strewn with items of dubious durability, so Sharon settled for leaning against the doorframe.

"If so, he hasn't told me. If you ask Maharang, though, it's sure to know. I believe one of its classes is about to let out, so if you head up to--" Teresa paused. "On second thought, it might be easier to camp outside Mannie's door until it shows up. The classroom isn't close."

"I'll do that," Sharon said. "Thanks for the help."

"Have you had a chance to find out what Jack's up to?"

Sharon already had her back turned, so it was easy to make her voice light. "Yeah, I tracked down some info. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction as to who to ask. Got some stuff worked out with the Windy in charge of their Saints program, too."

"If you'd like to talk about anything, let me know. I can adjust my schedule."

"Thanks. Maybe later."

The door to Mannie's office was closed, locked, and dark. Sharon picked the lock, flipped on the lights inside, and dropped down at his desk chair to wait. Using the chair that waited for visitors would have been more polite, but putting the Bright off-balance seemed to be the key to digging information out of him before his annoyance caught up with his surprise.

The computer asked for a password when she tapped at it, and all the papers on the desk were both too scientific for her tastes and written in an oddly condensed format, as if the writer hadn't included any words he considered obvious. Sharon leaned forward over the desk, found nothing more personal than an origami crane hidden behind a stack of books.

"Hey," she said, as the door clicked open. "I was wondering how long it would be." She spun around in circles on the chair. "I'm surprised they didn't give you a bigger office. I mean, not that this is cramped or anything, but it doesn't even have a window."

"I prefer not to have a window," Mannie said, and plucked the crane out of her hand. "What do you want?"

"Info, the usual stuff. Hey, was that one that Kai made for you? Because I know she--he, I guess, in the current vessel--used to make those whenever he was bored. Set down a newspaper, leave him alone for an hour, come back and find a flock."

"No," Mannie said, "he didn't make it." He set the crane back down in exactly the place it had been before. "Did you want something in particular, or are you only here to support the Word of the Wind by annoying me?"

Sharon pushed herself off his chair, and realized the moment had been lost. She'd have to learn to move faster, isn't that what the Ofanite always said? "So how's this thing with Kai going?" She bounced on her heels as he reclaimed the chair, until she remembered certain options and took to sitting cross-legged in the air. Far better than floating on a cloud with a harp. Not that she'd seen any harps since arriving, but they probably had a few tucked away somewhere, if only to make traditionalists feel at home.

"Differently than I'd expected."

"That's not much of an answer, Mannie."

"And that's not much of an appointment you made, Sharon. If you want details, schedule one." He turned his back to her, and she could see his wings tightly folded behind him, like blue wire compressed into two thick strands. "You could bother someone else in the meantime. Possibly Teresa. She likes humans."

"And you don't?"

"I have no doubt God has a place in his plan for everyone."

"That's not much more of an answer than before."

"See my previous explanation."

The little cat-door (except it was installed far too high for any mortal gravity-bound cat to reach) banged open, and the reliever frowned at her as it came in. "Boss," it said, "I checked the Heart, and there's nothing I can see to worry about there. I think it's just busy."

"Thank you, Maharang." Mannie held out a mug without turning around, and the reliever left with that in hand.

"So you are worried," Sharon said. "What's going on?"

"Nothing we can't deal with. I always worry. Don't you have anything better to do than stand around in my office annoying me?"

"Probably," Sharon said, and left the office. Didn't bother to close the door behind her, because someone as irritable as that needed more company anyway. On the way out, she passed the same reliever as before, carrying a mug of coffee.

"Hey, little fairy thing," she said. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Maharang, the name is Maharang," said the reliever. "And I'm a reliever! I mean, my name's only three syllables, it shouldn't be that hard to remember."

"Right," Sharon said. "I'm just wondering, because I'm a friend of Kai's, why's Mannie so worried?"

"Because Kai hasn't been answering its phone," the reliever said. "But I think everything's fine." It leaned forward to peer at her. "Are you okay? You look upset."

Sharon wanted to say, _I'm fine,_ but there was no way to lie in the language of Heaven. So she only smiled, and shrugged. "Don't worry about it," she said. "I'll deal."

That much was true.


	31. In Which An Ofanite Makes A Bad Decision

My phone zaps me right when I'm halfway up the tree, and much as I'd like to talk to Mannie, this is not a good time. Climbing trees comes easily, but wet bark and a paucity of low-hanging branches has made this climb more challenging than I expected. Which isn't to say that I'm having trouble, only that I need both hands, both feet, and I'm beginning to envy Cherubim whose celestial forms include prehensile tails. I wonder why humans never developed those? A third gripping limb would be an improvement over two, especially when you can use it for items behind you. Some time I ought to track down an angel who was around during that stretch of evolution and ask.

Neski-pigeon has flown up to perch in the top branches, and coos at me as I finally achieve altitude. "Easy for you to say. You have wings." I take out the loop I made of leash and extra rope, and wait...as impatiently as I ever wait, really.

Theo's reasonable enough to not try to keep me out of this. He couldn't, with at least three demons patrolling the grounds and Aglaya as reliable as a distracted Ofanite of the Wind.

If Jack and Sharon were here right now, I wouldn't be worried at all.

We know the demons are here, and approximately what they are. They know we're in the area, and can guess at what we might be. But we don't know if they know that we know what they are, or if they know that we don't know whether or not they know what we are...

This extra Force is just making my head hurt. I used to never think about these things.

In any case, we're taking things one step at a time, and the current step is clear. I've only carved the first two lines of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ into the branch I'm sitting on when I hear the rumble of disturbance. That would be Theo going celestial. Next rumble, louder as it builds on the first, ascending to his Heart. Third wave... Returning with the toy he was able to requisition. The demons would have to be mind-blind not to hear that.

I'm two trees too far back in these woods to see the grounds of the center, the difficulty of doing so in the late evening aside. Wait wait wait, while Neski-pigeon makes happy little pigeon sounds to itself, or possibly to me.

A dog barks twice, and now I'm ready.

I see the Malakite first, bounding across the damp ground with her tail wagging, as if she's playing. I suppose she is; the demon who follows is human-vesseled, and consequently has a lot more trouble making his way through the undergrowth after her. Duchess disappears into the bushes past my tree. The demon moves forward carefully, scanning the area for a trap, weapon out and ready.

Doesn't look up, though.

I drop the loop around his head, and kick off the branch backwards. I slide down towards the ground, rope in my hands, and the loop pulls tight, yanks him up, up, into the trees. The way he's shouting suggests I didn't break his neck or crush his throat, my vessel's not heavy enough compared to his, but he's certainly _distracted_. I catch my fall on the lowest branch, leaving me with a view of his back.

The demon's vessel is a heavier than mine, which makes for awkwardness until I get the rope tied down. By which point his neck is bloody from the way he's clawing at it. Not one of the Calabim, or he'd already be free. And his gun isn't so great for shooting off a rope.

Finishing off someone who's dangling by his neck from a branch, caught all around by other branches so that he can't even twist back to get at me, is so easy I nearly feel guilty. But then, Servitor of Belial. Only _nearly_.

Neski-pigeon makes a startled noise, and swoops down past me. I drop to the ground, leave the mess in the trees for later clean-up. "Trouble?" One coo means a yes, so I pound away after the Kyrio, doing better than that demon did in navigating the woods. And where's Duchess gone now?

Skidding through a patch of wet leaves, I can barely keep my balance, and that's saying something. But there's the Malakite, hobbling on three legs, muzzle painted red with blood. Not all the demon's, I think, because he's still standing, even if his pants are shredded by teeth. "Burn," he says, with a nasty grin for me, and, right, _this_ would be one of the Calabim, because damn that _hurts_ , like my vessel is trying to pull itself to pieces and take me with it.

I'm not about to let a little pain and bleeding get in the way of my job.

Distinct advantage to having a taller (and consequently heavier) vessel than usual: momentum. We're about evenly matched in build, so when I hit him full speed, he loses his footing and goes down. Good. Can't dodge his resonance, so there's no point in keeping things upright where I can put my speed up against his and laugh. Taste of iron in my mouth, but I have...what do I have? Pockets, time to check the pockets, I have a pen with the name of the hotel on it, convenient that they give out free pens to anyone who'd want one. I spin that out into my right hand, aim for his right eye. Miss, or at least hit where it used to be while he jerks away.

\--ow. Tree, meet head. Stronger than I expected. I still have my pen in hand, that's something, but I'm a few yards away from him, and Duchess yips, crumples while I'm still getting back to my feet. My left ankle isn't happy about the standing thing, but it'll deal, no time to worry about little issues like broken bones. I'm not sure if the Malakite's unconscious, or doesn't have a backup vessel, but right now it's just the two of us.

"Nice try," says the Calabite, and that's another slam of his resonance, this is starting to get old (and coughing up blood can't be a good sign), "but I'd be more impressed if you had an actual weapon." There's a bulge under his coat that he isn't bothering to reach for.

"You think so?" Feet are working, that ankle doesn't agree but legs are working, and I'm standing again. He can throw me that hard from nearly no leverage? I'm going to be in trouble if I get in close, no matter how fast I am. And he can keep on hitting me with his resonance so long as I'm in range unless I fight it off. Must remember to send a nice thank you note to the Boss about giving me a tough vessel for once, or I wouldn't be standing right now.

"They shouldn't send kids against the real fighters," the Calabite says, and laughs. "What say we take this to some place more serious? Not like you're holding out well down here. Want to try your hand at it in the celestial?"

This is probably a bad idea, but my shirt's soaked in blood and I can't taste anything but sharp iron in my mouth. "Sounds like my type of game," I say, and drop my vessel.

"An Ofanite? Even _more_ fun." A blur as his vessel disappears, and now he's a shadowy version of that same form, bat-winged and with that smirk on his face. "Let's play."

I have a fondness for vessels; you can do such marvelous things with hands, feet, faces. But in celestial form I'm pure speed and fire, an endless ring spinning as wildly as I want, and he's only a poor imitation of a vessel with a popgun power. I spin at him, and he grins, holds up one hand. "Burn, baby, burn," he says--

\--and twitches as I slam it right back at him. One arm shakes, turns mottled all along the length as his resonance rips at him instead. I'm told I can be bloody-minded and stubborn at times. I like to think of it as force of character. Either way, I'm having none of that in _this_ realm.

"My playground," I say, and stretch out with a razor-keen arc of fire to slash at him, all my ring turned sharp around me. "Thanks for the invite."

All his curses are in Helltongue, and for once I can enjoy hearing that, because I'm holding my ground. Sure, he can do a quick dodge here and there around my ring as I rush at him, but it's not going to last. And then he pulls his vessel back around himself, nothing more than a bloodied man standing in the forest.

"Now I'm kinda disappointed," I say, idly encircling him. Not like we can hurt each other this way. "You go and offer me a chance to fight the way I prefer, and now you're chickening out on me after a few lousy hits. Did your Prince run out of courage to add to the mix the day he stuck your Forces together?"

He opens his mouth, like he's going to say something cutting, but then half his head disappears with a fizzle-crackle from the very large gun Theo's carrying. Which effectively ends both conversation and fight right there.

I pull my vessel back on, and stagger. Ankle. Right. Can't forget about that. "Did you get--"

"The third one? Yes. The Domination and I were able to deal with that one, despite a few...setbacks." All Theo's right shoulder is a mass of burns, and most of his jacket has disappeared, leaving about half a jacket with black marks around the edges. "It seemed simpler to have Aglaya stay out of this, but perhaps I should have sent her to guard your back."

"Hey, no need for that. I'm fine." Except that walking isn't easy. "You look a mess, though. And Duchess could use some help." I sit down on the wet ground. "I could use a shower. You could use a shower and a new shirt and jacket. Somehow, these fights always seem to take longer than they really did. What time is it?" Late evening is sliding surely into night, and I can barely make out the form of the dog-vessel where it lies on the ground.

"Getting later," Theo says. He crouches down by the Malakite's vessel. "Looks like she's all the way down. Must not have had a spare vessel. How many times did the Calabite hit you?"

"Um. Two. Three? Maybe four. And then there was the bit where he threw me into a tree. I think my ankle's broken."

My Cherub sighs, and sings out healing at me. Not enough to mend all the places where I feel disconnected inside, but my ankle doesn't protest when I get back to my feet. "You were _supposed_ to only deal with that one demon, unless called over."

"Neski got all anxious and left, so I followed." He sings out healing again, and I feel much less like my insides are trying to escape. "I take it that wasn't you calling?"

"I certainly didn't call for you, but it might have decided you were needed. In any case, it's time to get to the one behind all of this before he flees. Though we can use that if need be."

"After that comes the cover-up?" I pass him a few notes of Essence, everything I have left save one to call up my bike if I need it, and he sings his own shoulder back whole again.

"Yes. Then the real fun starts. I am not looking forward to examining every single patient in this center for signs of what the Vapulans have been up to." Theo slings an arm around my shoulder. "However, I _know_ they won't send you in for a job like that, so with any luck I won't be involved either, and we can pass this all off to some nice Mercurian with a good solid medical Role."

"Sounds like a plan." I think I could use one more dose of healing, but I'm not about to ask for any when Theo's obviously so low on Essence. "For extra fun, see if we can leak this guy's unauthorized second set of experiments back to Technology. Don't think he's going to get much leeway on that now that it's becoming a failure. Assuming we can do that without giving them his data."

"I like the way you think." We're nearly to the car, and I can't see Aglaya, no doubt because she's staying carefully out of sight. "Potential benefit is reasonable, potential risk is low. And someone to carry it out, if she's up for the job."

"Aglaya?" I sit on the hood of the car while Theo puts the really big gun (and why don't they ever let me carry weapons like that? Okay, probably because I'd forget to shoot and hit people with it instead) away in the trunk. I wipe blood off my face with one hand. Definitely need a shower. Getting back into the hotel without raising eyebrows won't be easy in this state. I wonder if the Kyrio would be willing to come along and do quick jumps into anyone we meet in the hallways, to avoid questions. We can take the elevator straight up from the parking garage.

"I take it everything went well," she says, stepping out from the trees. The car's mostly hidden behind this particular line of pines, at least in the darkness. I can't make out her expression in the dark. "Kai? There's a call for you. From Jack. He asked for my phone number before he left..." She holds out her cell phone, a tiny blue light from the screen displaying a running call.

"I don't think--" Theo begins, but I'm already grabbing the phone.

"Just a few minutes, okay? We've cleared the area, I'll be right back." I head back the way we came before he can go into some explanation of why he thinks it's a bad idea for me to take this call. I want some privacy for this.

The call's still ticking away its time. Not sure how I want to deal with this. No time like the present to find out. "Jack?"

"Hey. How's it going?" Not quite the breezy tone I used to get on the other end of the line when he called me to propose some wacky scheme, but close. Maybe they told him Sharon's in Heaven. That should make him feel better.

"It's going fine. We're working through the last stages. If all goes well, I may be able to hit the road tomorrow morning." And what am I going to do then? Between Aglaya and Theo and whatever new job the Boss has for me, making sure we haven't left a complete mess behind... Depends on how Mannie's side of things have been going, and there's my phone zapping me again, but I'm already on the phone, and juggling two calls at once is too Kyrio for me. I'll call him and ask afterward. With any luck he got Aglaya free and clear enough that we can drag her off to a Tether to have some sense talked into her, and I don't _care_ what Theo considers to be the practical solution, I'm not throwing her back to Hell. Her secrets won't last forever. "What's up?"

"I'm in a bit of trouble, Kai." The laugh that follows is downright nervous, which means Jack's seriously worried. He can maintain a cheerful facade when someone's stabbing him in the chest. "Think you can lend me a hand?"

"Of course. Where are you? What do you need?" I circle a single tree in the dark, fingertips brushing against the bark to keep me in place. 

"Not too far from you, if all that noise was any indication. What were you--no, on second thought, I'm not going to ask. Look, it's complicated. Can you meet me somewhere?"

"Sure, we're just finishing up here. If you tell me where to pick you up--"

"Kai, I _really_ don't want that Cherub breathing down my neck. Much less having an Impudite along for the ride. I mean, you're my friend, but that Sparky doesn't know me from Adam, and do you think he's going to let the two of us chat? Assuming he doesn't call Judgment on me the instant I show up. Does he know you're talking to me? He might be calling them already."

He has a point. If Theo isn't happy about me talking with an Outcast, he's going to be an awful lot less happy at the idea of me _meeting_ with one. "How long can you wait? We still have a stop to make."

"A few hours. I guess. I'm getting a little nervous, here, Kai, and I could use the help. I mean, assuming you're willing to help me out anymore."

"Of course I am." Quick review of the plan, and, unexpected incidents aside, I can ditch within an hour, though getting out of the way without Theo noticing will be...tricky. "You've dropped everything to come over and help me every time I've asked."

"I knew I could count on you. How about that park where we talked the first time I swung by? I'll wait there a few hours, if I can, and see if you show up."

"I'll be there if I can. Don't run off on me again, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it. Thanks."

The numbers on the little blue screen have stopped counting up. Phone call is over. And I ought to call Nomikos, let him know where Jack is right now so that he can step in and handle it, but...I can't. Not so long as there's a chance Jack might get hurt.

Nomikos would want me to call him in. Theo'd want to come along. Mannie...might understand. He gets what it means to owe someone for everything they've done for you, and I think he understands having people who you can't stop trying to help, no matter how stupid it might be.

I'm not going to call him and ask for his opinion, though. Because like as not he'd agree I owed Jack a dozen times over, ought to repay him, and then turn around and call Judgment himself the instant I was off the line. Mannie can get a little unreasonable about what he considers necessary for my safety. Got to wonder if he was behind getting a Cherub assigned. I'll ask him the next time I'm in Heaven and see if he tries to avoid the subject.

Back at the car, Theo and Aglaya are having one of their not-quite-staring matches, where they both stand around watching each other while trying not to look hostile, paranoid, or obsessive. I pass Aglaya's phone back to her. "Thanks."

And then I'm into the driver's seat and turning on the engine before anyone can think to ask what we said.

"So," I say, when we're on the road and I catch sight of Theo getting ready to ask questions, "is Neski taking care of the body clean-up back there?"

"I believe its precise words were, 'It would be my pleasure to dispose of them,'" Aglaya says. "I'd rather not consider the details of _how_ too closely. It kept one Force in a mouse watching the demon who's been arranging things, and says he hasn't shown any sign of having received a message or heard the disturbance."

"All of the files are ready," Theo says. "We just get him out of there without leaving signs of a struggle that can't be concealed as signs of sudden flight. Having the Domination around to provide assistance in that investigation should help us avoid any problem from the mortals."

"Which crimes did you two decide on?" If I keep them talking about the job, they're not going to ask awkward questions. I may suck at lying, but I can manage misdirection when it's called for.

"Embezzlement. It covers paying off the director, both that murder and that of the other doctor, the sudden flight, and is the explanation least likely to cause the center long-term problems. We'll keep a close eye on it, and if the explanation falls through, we can call in someone from Trade to give all those financial transactions more verisimilitude." Theo rolls down his window a few inches. "We'll also need to keep an eye out for any attempts to reclaim the Role or otherwise sneak in more Vapulans. Whoever gets left here to work in the center will handle that part."

It takes the three of us--four, if you count the mouse who does more watching than helping--longer to get the back door open without any signs of breaking and entering than it would have taken Jack or Sharon alone, but Sparkies and Techies both have some general knowledge suitable for application to locks and security systems. We find the demon hunched over his computer in his bedroom. He doesn't even turn towards the little noise we make coming in before he's tranqed by Theo and dragged off by me for disposal.

It's almost too easy.

Forty-five minutes of file insertion, messy packing, and body-disposal later, we make our way back to the hotel room, Neski keeping anyone who'd boggle at two blood-covered men out of the way. (Aglaya hasn't got so much as a grass stain on her.) Theo's kind enough to let me call dibs on the shower. I make myself presentable and less bloody, then pass it over to him.

"Where are you going?" Aglaya asks, as I head for the door.

"Coffee."

"Try again. You're a lousy liar."

I lean my head against the doorframe. "Going to go find Jack and give him a hand."

"That's what he called about?"

"Yeah. I can't turn him down, here. Just...tell Theo I went out for coffee if he asks, okay? I don't want him to freak over something like this. I won't be gone long."

"Don't go."

"Why not?" The longer I continue this conversation, the better chance Theo will finish showering, show up in this room, and then things get awkward.

"Please. Don't go. Stay here, forget about it, let him go find his own damnation without dragging you along."

"I'm not going to give up on a friend."

"You should."

I pull the door open. "You wouldn't understand." I don't slam the door behind me, Theo might hear, but I settle for disgruntled stomping down the corridor. I'm not about to let down a friend, and Jack wouldn't hurt me. I'll get him the help he needs, make sure he's pointed back in the right direction, and then come back and apologize to Theo for ditching, assuming I'm even gone long enough for him to worry.

Two blocks away from the hotel, I find a convenient alley to call up my bike, and then it's full-speed off to that distant park. 

When the wind rushes past me in the dark, I can nearly comprehend what Jack and Sharon serve. That sort of Word would need an Ofanite to ride it, be willing to move where all the vast churning atmosphere of this planet decided to take it. It's not my style, not where my Heart leads me, no matter what Jack would like, but it's beautiful.

At the park, I leave my bike at the curb; that's the last of my Essence, and I'm not about to wait for dawn to call it back up. There's a solitary shape waiting at one of the benches.

"Hey," I say, and sit down beside him.

"I was starting to wonder if you'd come." His voice is more teasing than reproachful.

"Oh ye of little faith. It's been less than two hours since you called. So what's the problem?"

"The problem, Kai, is that I have an entire triad on my heels, and much as I can keep dodging them as long as I need to, that doesn't seem like a long-term winning strategy to me."

"A whole triad?" Nomikos didn't say anything about that. I figured he'd show up in person to talk with Jack, haul him back to a Tether if need be. "You ought to go tell them--"

"I don't think they want to _talk_ , Kai," Jack says, and now there's nothing happy in that voice. "Or at least that's the impression I got when we ran into each other. Wasn't a whole lot of conversation happening from their end."

Nomikos wouldn't--no, he very well _would_ , if he thought it was necessary. Like the ground's sliding away from beneath my feet, even as I'm sitting down. "How can I help?"

"Talk to them. Let them know--I don't know. Something. You're good with Judgment, they'll _listen_ to you. The way Judges keep falling for you, they might give me a chance to explain before the smiting starts." Jack laughs shortly. "And if you could spare any Essence... I haven't been getting it at dawn very often. Dissonance has such entertaining side-effects."

"I'm already tapped out. Sorry. It's been a busy night."

"Don't worry about it, then." Jack stands up. "Come on. I'll get you pointed in the right direction."

I can remember nights like this before, walking through some half-deserted place in the dark, working out how we were going to tackle the next challenge, or just working out what we wanted our next challenge to be. Except Sharon ought to be here, and Nip, or Kelly glaring about for signs of dishonorable deeds. It's never been just Jack and me, not since we were relievers; always Jack and me and other Windies. He doesn't have the sort of personality that travels alone well. Maybe once he's back in his Archangel's good graces, all his dissonance worked off and this mess cleaned up, we could work something out. Jean and Janus don't have anything against each other, and it's not like I don't sort of cause chaos just in the process of doing my job. If I keep him close, I could make sure he didn't need to take on any dissonance, and...I don't know. Wild idea. Maybe it would work.

"Remember when I used to crash at your apartment every month or so?" Jack asks.

"You say that like it was forever ago, not two years and change. Of course I remember. I also remember when you'd drag in other Windies, and I had to hide things to keep them from being destroyed or going missing, not that hiding them _helped_. Like with that one Elohite with the lighter--"

"Yeah, well, it seems like a long time ago." Jack shrugs. "Don't know. Just thinking about how it used to work. Knowing where you were, and that you'd always be there when I came back around again. And now you're always moving, I've been moving... We barely ever catch up with each other."

"That's the way the jobs work out."

"Maybe so. Or maybe if you're going to keep moving, I ought to find a way to settle down."

That's enough to stop me short. "Jack, are you telling me you'd try to change service? After all this time?"

"People change, Kai. And you've jumped Superiors yourself, so you're hardly one to point fingers, here." There's some relief that he doesn't have any of that anger to his words that I've been hearing lately. Perfectly calm.

"That's different. I'm just in service to Jean, not...part of Lightning. And your Boss is still--well. Around." Not a conversational direction I want to go. "But why? You've always loved working for the Wind."

"Like I said. People change. You think what's been happening to me of late isn't enough sign of that?" He keeps walking, so I follow beside him. Don't like what I'm hearing, but it does make an unpleasant kind of sense. "If I could keep a closer eye on you, that's a reason right there."

"I don't think petitioning to change Superiors would solve your problems, Jack. And I'm not worth making that kind of decision over." I can't imagine being anything other than a child of Eli; working a temp job for Jean is one thing, but changing _that_ would be like trying to change my Choir. It's part of who I am.

"You think so? I'd go a long way for you. Maybe I just made a bad decision in the first place. You wanted me to join Eli back before I fledged, and I was the one who decided to follow the Wind instead. So we all make choices, and sometimes we make stupid choices. Isn't it only fair that we'd get a chance to correct them?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Some choices are for good. It's not like someone who fledged Seraph can change her mind and say, wait, I really wanted to be a Cherub instead." All the conversation is nitpicking at my mind, making me restless. Like I want to run somewhere, not settle for this walking to whichever destination and a disgruntled, over-reacting triad to talk down into reason. "Why bring this up now?"

"I've been thinking of late. That's all." We're at a near-empty parking lot, and a car pulls in, headlights making me blink. Jack puts a hand on my shoulder. "Kai, I need your help, here. Just get in the car with me and listen for a while, okay?"

There's something strange in his voice, I don't know what, but he's my friend. Of course I'm going to give him whatever help he needs.

Two people in the front of the car, one in the back. I slide into the center of the back seat, Jack climbs in beside me, and then we're off. Too slow for my tastes, but they haven't offered to let me drive. Front right is tall, thin, looks to be a Seraph; I can't place the woman who's driving.

The man in the back seat takes my hand for a moment. "And you must be Kai," he says.

"Yeah. Um. Jack?" There's something weird going on here.

"Don't worry about it," Jack says, one arm over my shoulders. "We're just going to head someplace private to talk."

I know there's something wrong. But if he says not to worry, I won't. Much. But these don't look like Windies, and he said the triad was trying to hurt him, but these three aren't acting like that at all, more like they know him. And they knew who I was when I got in the car. "Jack--"

"Like he said," says the woman driving, "don't worry about it." She catches my eyes in the rear-view mirror, and laughs. "Really. Everything's fine." I catch a mild rumble of disturbance, wonder what she's pushing Essence into. Driving hardly requires it right now, but maybe she's sending a message to someone.

And she's right. I can feel it, washing over me.

Everything is just fine.


	32. An Intermission With A Cherub

Theo considered the long term, as he dressed. It was all very well to focus on immediate problems when they were immediate, but the Boss wasn't the sort to assign a Cherub for a short-term assignment, infernal influences lingering in the next room or not. The possibility did exist that they'd finish up the job, hand over the less tidy details to another, and then have the attunement amicably and safely broken, up in Heaven. He would not quibble if this was decided for him. However, it seemed more likely that this Ofanite would be his responsibility for the foreseeable future.

Which would take some adjustment.

Having an angel for an attuned was always a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they knew exactly what his responsibilities towards them were, and could take care of themselves better than humans or inanimate objects. On the other hand, angels were prone to throwing themselves into danger, or simply wandering into it out of sheer curiosity. (This was, he admitted to himself, more a trait of Sparkies in particular than angels in general.) Inanimate objects stayed where they were put, and humans usually had enough sense to run _away_ from lethal events.

Theo reached for his jacket, found it was still in burnt tatters. One of the hazards of corporeal duty that they seldom mentioned in the reliever classes was how quickly one went through clothing. And he'd liked that jacket. Perhaps it was time to ask one of the more textile-oriented Creationers in service to Lightning to make him another one, with more armoring. Or fire-proofing.

There was no one in the first room, and only the Impudite hunched over stacks of folders in the other. "He went out to get coffee," she said, before he could ask. "And some space, I think."

All the Symphony would tell him was direction, and the lack of additional information made him uneasy. "Did he say where? Or how long he'd be?"

"I'm not his keeper, Guardian. You are." She flipped a piece of paper over. "Though if you'd like to go track him down and breath down his neck some more, don't let me stop you."

The door called to him, but he hesitated. "If I leave now, you're not going to be here when I get back, are you? This job is done, and you're not about to risk Kai dragging you to a Tether for what he thinks is your own good."

"Maybe." She stared at the sheet of paper in her hands. "And would you not drag me back to a Tether yourself?"

"Why waste time and resources on that, when we both know you have no intention of redeeming?"

"And I'm more useful as an inside source for information. Even an untrustworthy one." She laughed bitterly. "It's no loss on _your_ part if anything happens to me. Yes, I understand that sort of pragmatism. Would you rather I be gone when you return, then?"

"Do whatever you intended. I don't expect my requests would make a difference."

"Not yours, no," she said. "Good luck tracking down your Ofanite."

Her hands trembled slightly, as she picked up another sheet of paper.

Theo pulled a chair out from the desk, pushed it over towards the bed. Sat down with his arms folded across the back. "Aglaya?"

"Yes?" She didn't look up.

"The Domination has been hiding enough bodies of late that one more won't bother it. If you tell me what's going on, in enough detail that I'm satisfied, I'll let you walk out of here alive. Give me partial truths, I'll probably only kill your vessel."

"What makes you think I know anything about what's going on?"

He'd been careful to note where she kept her cute little VapuTech toy, and which hand she used to reach for it. Theo broke her arm, put one hand over her mouth. "I'm not stupid," he said, "and unlike Kai, I don't think you're trying to help us. I think you're playing another one of your games. Which I can tolerate up until they start fucking with my attuned. So let's cut through the protestations of innocence and get to the part where you tell me what's going on."

When she nodded, he took the hand off her mouth. "So much for angels being _nice_ ," Aglaya said.

"Nice? I don't have to be nice. Mercurians, sometimes they do nice. All I have to be is holy. Right now I'm not seeing anything holy between you and death but the faint possibility that you know what's going on." He knocked the gun away from where it had fallen on the bed, letting it slide off onto the carpet. "Understood? Because if this isn't clear, I can start breaking more bones until you catch my drift."

"Extremely clear." Aglaya shivered beneath him. "Want to let me up so that we can talk about this in a civilized manner?"

"Mm. I'll take the chance." Theo hauled her off the bed and onto her feet by both wrists. "Start talking."

"He's gone to meet Jack," Aglaya said. "Asked me to tell you he was just out for coffee, so you wouldn't worry. And said that he expected to be back fairly soon."

"And?"

Aglaya swallowed. "Jack's not an Outcast. Not anymore."

Theo considered this. Adjusted his priorities and assumptions accordingly. "Where are they meeting?"

"I don't know. I didn't hear the conversation. Only what Kai told me when he was leaving." She offered him a sweet smile, as false as ever. "I told him not to go, but why would anyone listen to me?"

"Who's Jack working for now?"

"I don't know."

Theo broke her other wrist. It wasn't as messy as throwing her against the wall and risking bloodstains. "I don't believe you."

"I swear, I don't know!" She was afraid, and he felt a distant pity for the Mercurian she'd once been. Her file had been distressing to read, both from the disjointed, bewildered report filed by her Cherub, and for having a thousand ways to prevent such an event running through his head. But she wasn't the attuned of any Cherub now, only another demon standing between him and the one he needed to protect.

"You might be telling the truth," Theo said. "But I think I know when he Fell. The two of you had a certain amount of time alone. I would have heard if you'd jumped to Hell from that close by, so you must have sent him elsewhere. Who did you send him to?"

"Theft," Aglaya said. She wasn't trying to pull free from his grasp anymore, though she whimpered a little when he shifted his grip. "I thought--I mean, it's so very much _like_ the Wind, it seemed--I wasn't _trying_ to do that! I didn't know he was going to Fall!"

"Now that I'll believe," Theo said. He frowned down at her. "You're probably still lying to me, but I'm in a hurry. Seven Essence, and I'll heal you before I leave. Or I can kill your vessel now."

Impudites of Technology always had plenty of Essence, and she'd not been using any to help them. He sang her broken bones whole again, and left the room. Had his cell phone out before he hit the garage.

"Zephyr Consulting, how may I help you?" The operator's voice had a jaunty lilt.

"Theophylaktos, checking in. I have a potential emergency. Patch me through to upstairs? I need to get in touch with a Judge." Calling to a Tether wasn't so convenient as calling Heaven directly through Kai's phone, and at some point Theo would get a straight explanation about how the Ofanite had acquired such a rare reward. 

"Patching. And, oh, they've put me on hold. This is going to take a few minutes, babe. Want to play a game while we wait?"

Theo got out a compass and protractor. "What part of 'emergency' did you not grasp?" He aligned himself to due north, noted the angle of the pull towards Kai.

"This is a hold from Judgment we're talking about. We're lucky they were convinced to install this system instead of requiring everything be done on parchment and word of mouth. You might be on hold a while. How about Trivial Pursuit? We can do that one over the phone."

He paced off ten meters, and measured the new angle. "I'll pass. What about if I only need to pass on a message, without receiving one back? How long do you think that would take?" The conversation was distracting enough that he had to pull out pen and paper to do the geometry, and frowned at the results. Too far away to be looking for coffee, or to be meeting nearby.

"Depends on how much of a stick they have up their--oo, there's the light. Here you go!"

A whine of static on the other end, and a new voice said, in the language of Heaven, "Please state the nature of the emergency."

"Outcast Mercurian of the Wind, currently being pursued by, um, Nomikos, I believe the name was, has likely Fallen. His name is Jack--"

"Checking." He heard the slide of scales against each other. "Found. Confirmation of the Fall?"

"Not verified, but highly probable. He may be serving Theft now--"

"Incorrect." And an irritable hiss. "Though I do not know who. Information will be relayed. Other urgent details?"

"Yes, make sure your little hit squad doesn't hit my _attuned_ while they're going after this guy. Kai, Ofanite of--"

"I know of that one. This will be relayed as well."

Theo paused, key in the ignition. "...you know Kai?"

"I have heard...stories." The Seraph's voice shaded into awkwardness. "Any other urgent information?"

"You have Jack's location?"

"It ought to be obtainable with current resources."

"I would appreciate coordination with the Servitors sent in to handle this problem. My phone number--"

"Already relayed. Hang up and wait for contact."

The line screeched at him, and then that chipper voice said, "Thank you for using Zephyr Consulting! For all your Heavenly calling needs, remember--"

Theo hung up.

Halfway to the destination he'd mapped out, the pull towards Kai veered sharply in another direction. Theo gritted his teeth, did a U-turn in the midst of light traffic to a chorus of screeching tires and angry honking, and pressed on in the new direction. Not Theft was good. Not Theft meant they'd stop running eventually. Probably. Unless it was only Jack and Kai, and that damn Mercurian (Impudite, damned _Impudite_ ) had talked his easily-swayed attuned into joining him on a wild cross-country adventure. It had happened once before.

Outside the city, he stopped to triangulate again, found Kai was gaining distance. Definitely not a good sign.

His phone rang. "Theo," he said, and pulled a map out to spread across the hood and plot against the current directions. They were traveling along a major road, that was still good...

"What sort of lock do you have on your attuned?" A crisp, professional voice. He could admire that, no matter what he thought of Judges.

"Directional only. I'm losing distance, but they may stop."

"We're reading similar results on the Outcast. You will meet with us before continuing."

So nice of them to _ask_. But he had more important things to consider than civility. "I'm currently to the west of--"

"Wait there. We ought to arrive shortly." And then the line went dead, before he could begin snarling at them about how they wanted him to _wait_ while his attuned was moving away?

But rushing in would be...unwise. Jack knew Kai had a Cherub attached, and anyone that Impudite was now serving would know likewise. Tempting as the prospect was, charging ahead heedlessly would get him killed, and then who would protect Kai?

Five minutes didn't fit his definition of _shortly_. The car pulled over to the side of the road behind his, and he attempted to appear...polite. It wouldn't do to antagonize these angels when he needed them.

Though he couldn't resist saying, "I thought triads usually had three members."

"I'm not part of this triad," said the odd man out, though he was dressed much the same as the others. Crisply professional, taller than Theo, a shadowy shape in the space out of the headlights' direct beam. Easy to imagine the dark wings behind him. "Nomikos, Malakite of Judgment. I spoke with Kai earlier."

"Theophylaktos, let's get _going_." He sorted out the other three shapes, Seraph, Cherub, and...Ofanite? Not what he would have predicted, but few Judges who weren't of that Choir would be moving the way she was. Brisk pacing all around their car and his, one hand flipping something small and shiny. She gave him a quick, dismissive look as she passed, and there was a familiar manic urgency lurking in the back of her eyes.

"An assessment of the situation is necessary before we take action," said the Seraph.

"So let's assess from _closer_ ," Theo said. "Who's doing the tracking?" The other Cherub raised a hand. "Then I'll follow you. I can call you during the drive if the two signals diverge."

"Nomikos will accompany you," the Seraph said, and the triad returned to their car. Leaving him with a Malakite who, wonder of wonders, looked a touch...annoyed.

Theo pulled off onto the road behind the triad's car, didn't indulge in the petty urge to tailgate. "So what's your part in this game?" Theo asked, and was rewarded with a twitch in the Malakite's expression at the terminology. Later, he could chastise himself for taking out his frustration on someone who hadn't been part of its cause. For now, it was a small relief to poke.

"Keeping Kai out of the way if we need to kill Jack. Which seems likely. Our prior relationship may be of use in preventing the Wheel from doing anything...unwise."

"He's already run off to play with his supposedly-Outcast friend without telling me," Theo said. "When I catch up with him, I'm going to put him on a _leash_. And I thought attuning to a Kyriotate kept me spinning in a dozen directions."

"Be reassured," Nomikos said, "that you're not the first to have this problem. Kai is very responsible, but he has his own ideas about what being responsible means. Lending assistance to a friend has frequently taken priority over other duties."

"And by giving him another friend to choose from, you hope he won't do anything stupid." Theo pushed the accelerator further down. At least the Ofanite ahead of him had a sense of how fast one ought to go under these circumstances. "I admire Judgment's pragmatism. You realize my priorities aren't yours, though."

"Aren't they? Kai out of this situation, and Jack dead. In that order. These are my priorities as they were reassigned for me, once we heard from you." The Malakite smiled faintly. "I wonder if it's the Game that Kai's been caught by. I would like a chance to deal with them more directly than I could before."

"Do you really think it's the Game, who has him?" Theo reached with one hand into the back seat, pulled the map out. "Open that up for me, would you? My resonance says he's moving to the right, and I'd like to see if it's following an obvious curve."

Nomikos folded the map to their current location. "The highway continues straight for some distance. It seems they're taking a side road. Or at least, Kai is. Have you tried calling?"

"Not yet. If he has access to his phone, Kai can call _me_. And he hasn't. I'd rather not tip my hand to those around him just yet." Theo's hands tightened on the wheel. "If he doesn't have access to his phone... While I can make one appear next to him, that would let them know I'm worried."

"They'll assume that regardless," Nomikos said. "Surely they've planned for your arrival. Go ahead and call. It's a chance at more information."

Theo flipped open his phone. There was no number for Kai's phone in his address book. But being a Cherub of Lightning meant never worrying about knowing the number of one's attuned.

Several rings, and no response. Theo shook his head. "He's not answering. I could make a phone appear, but..."

"Do, please." Nomikos had his eyes closed, for whatever reasons a Judge had for anything he did.

One Essence into that, and on the second ring the line picked up. "Hi, Theo! I was wondering when you'd call. How's it going?" Jack's voice was sunny enough to slay vampires.

"I'd like to speak with Kai," Theo said, voice not as level as an Elohite would manage, but polite enough that he could admire his own restraint.

"I'm sorry, but he's a bit out of it at the moment. Maybe I can take a message?" There were faint noises in the background, nothing Theo could place, except maybe the sound of a car moving as heard from the inside. No other voices to give him more data. "And you don't need to worry about a thing, buddy. He's in good hands."

"Jack--"

"No, seriously. You're his Cherub, you should be able to tell. He's not in any danger, and I'm not going to let him be." All the playfulness gone, and it was somehow more awful to realize this new-Fallen demon thought he was telling the truth. "So relax, back off, and go take a vacation." The mockery was sliding back in. "You Sparkies work too hard, don't you? Never any time out for fun. You could go catch a movie. Something with plenty of explosions."

"I'm going to kill you," Theo said. "You do realize this."

"And hurt Kai's feelings? What kind of Cherub are you?" Jack laughed. "Look, it's been great talking, but I've got to go. Places to go, people to see, you understand how it is. Try to keep in touch when you have the time."

The line went dead, and it took a great amount of self control not to throw the phone at something. Or someone. Theo calmly put it away. "At this point," he said, "I don't care if she was lying or not. I am going to kill him."

"If who was lying?" Nomikos asked, and Theo was suddenly very glad it was a Malakite riding in the car with him, not a Seraph.

"An unreliable source," Theo said, "though unreliable information is frequently better than none. And how _are_ you planning on approaching this situation? Charge in guns blazing, attempt to negotiate with them...?"

"It depends on the circumstances," Nomikos said. "It isn't my decision. There are greater matters to consider than the fates of two celestials, and should those matters take precedence..." The Malakite spread his hands out flat on his knees. "But perhaps there will be no conflict of priorities, and we may simply remove the one and dispose of the other."

"It's never that simple," Theo said. "But either way, I only have one priority right now."

Nomikos closed his eyes. "That can be a blessing."


	33. In Which An Ofanite Can Be Relied On To Act As Its Nature Dictates

We seem to have reached, as Mannie would put it, an impasse, and this isn't something I'm used to.

Three people in a room. Simple enough. Door's locked. Jack could pick the lock, and I could break through if it came to that. I don't think the Djinn has a key, but he doesn't seem to care.

What makes this complicated is that neither of them want to hurt me, I don't want to hurt Jack, and the Djinn is standing in front of the door.

It's just an office. Boring little office. A thousand things I could fight with, but every time I jump the Djinn--well, they can't hurt me, but they can hold me down, and I can't hurt Jack--

Life is less complicated when I'm up against enemies, not friends.

"I take it the warm fuzzies wore off," Jack says. I'm on my seventh circuit around the desk. He's sitting in a chair off to the side, watching me. I don't know how to read his face anymore.

"Yeah," I say. "And thanks _so_ much for that particular dose of happiness." Like having my head wrapped in a blanket, and I'm reminded of when friends in earlier decades convinced me to try their favorite drugs. So not my style, no matter what the stereotypes about Dad's kids are.

"Didn't want you getting hurt," Jack said, "and I knew you'd freak the moment you realized what was going on."

I pick up a paperweight on the next round, and watch the Djinn. Who's watching me, ever and always eyes on me. And I thought Theo got clingy. This demon's still bleeding from the last time I hit him before Jack pulled me off. Doesn't seem to care. How typical for his Band. I could attack him again, but Jack would jump me, and then--not thinking about it. Some things I am _not_ thinking about right now.

All the warm fuzzy feelings lifting, and I ran for the door, and found myself trying to hurt--

No. Not thinking about it.

"You know," I say, and drop the paperweight again, pick up a silver-plated pen, "if you didn't want me to get hurt, dragging me to a demonic Tether wasn't the best way to go about it. Just an FYI, there. Something to keep in mind the next time you get a bright idea about how to help out a friend."

"It was necessary." I wish he were more visibly changed. I wish he hated me. But he looks the same as always, and sounds the same as always, and all that seems to have changed is the company he keeps. "Like you're going to sit around and listen to me anywhere else? You'd call in Judgment and say it was for my own good. You'd even _believe_ that, wouldn't you? You rival a Habbalite when it comes to deluding yourself, Kai."

"I do not--"

"Get _over_ it, Kai." It sounds like we're heading for another argument. I can live with that. He snorts, and leans back in the chair. The way he used to at the desk in my apartment, feet propped on my keyboard and ready to convince me of something. "Let's start with the obvious one, okay? Your Archangel's ditched you and everyone else who ever worked for him, and you still manage to believe this is a good thing."

"Dad knows what he's doing. Who am I to start second-guessing my own Superior?" I swap the pen for a handful of paperclips, and turn off the lamp on the desk. "If it weren't important, he wouldn't spend so much time on it."

"Or maybe he's cracked. Or gone on a long vacation. Or doesn't care. How would you know?" Jack has a whole set of charming smiles, but he's not bothering to use them right now. "Let's not even _start_ on what you believe about Judgment--"

"They're doing their job." I still miss my old triad. Not the wild partying type, but ever reassuring. How much longer until Nomikos finds where Jack's gone? One Malakite shouldn't be walking into this alone, or even a Malakite and a Cherub. No way these people are letting me get out with a quick hit-and-run like the last time. Tethers have resources. Tethers are excellent places to invoke the Superior who owns the place... Oh, I am _so_ not going to think about that. "Dad knew we needed someone to watch out for us while he was gone."

"Yeah, and Habbalah are really angels who serve God from within Hell. Kai, you are the _only_ person who seriously believes Eli's all happy-fluffy about Dominic searching through Creationers for heresy. And they're awfully good at finding heresy, aren't they? Always something they can drag you in for, if they decide to do that."

"They're fair." I spin the light bulb out of the lamp on my next pass, set it down to roll around on the desk.

"They're vicious bastards who won't be happy until they're the only one calling the shots." Jack smirks. "You think they're not going to haul you in for a trial as soon as they find out who you've been talking? You are in _serious_ trouble, if you go back."

"You say this like it's in doubt." Nomikos wouldn't hold it against me if he lost a vessel or two in hitting this place, but I'm not sure he _will_. No matter what he thinks of me, trying to storm an actual Tether is serious business, and prone to consequences. I don't know if his Superior will believe I'm worth that. "How long do I need to listen to you not making sense before you give up?"

"I'm not going to give up on you, Kai. I want you to come with me." He's _sincere_ , and that's what hurts the most. "Your Archangel left you to the mercy of Judgment's whims, and the guy you're working for now? He'll let you put yourself at risk as often as he thinks it's necessary, and all so that he can keep humanity from getting any of the cool toys before he thinks it's time. Not the most noble goal to sacrifice yourself for. You could do better."

"I don't think working for the Game is up my alley, Jack." Never would have called it his, either. Theft, I could have believed that, for all his protestations that the Wind wasn't like them. "To begin with, can you imagine me wearing a tie?"

"I'm not working for the Game, Kai."

"Could have fooled me. What with this Tether being in an old courthouse and all." They can smack me down any way that I try to run, I have no doubt. Between the Habbalite and the Balseraph, the Djinn to track me and Jack who I can't do anything but run from, whoever the Seneschal of this place is, whatever Songs or artifacts they might have. Running is not an option. Staying is not an option. I twist paperclips into odd shapes between my fingers. Shiny new Ethereal Force, don't fail me now.

"Working with them at the moment, yes. It was necessary." I wonder what they've done to his head, in the days they've had him. He speaks like he's convinced of everything he's saying, and he probably is. I wonder when they'll get impatient and start Balseraphing my mind into goo. "I did it for you."

"And how is _this_ my fault?"

"The Game doesn't forget anyone," he says. "They can be very patient. But they're giving me a chance to talk to you instead of running you through what they had planned originally. If you follow me, I can _help_ you, Kai."

"So, let me see if I have this straight." I stuff bent paperclips back in my pocket, and yank open the top drawer of the desk. Scissors. Nice. I can do all sorts of things with scissors. Probably not the moment for arts and crafts. "You're trying to talk me into following you to Hell, joining up with whichever Prince you'll be serving, the whole nine yards. And this is supposed to be a _good_ thing."

"If you don't, they'll just push you," Jack says. "They will _break_ you, they can do it to anyone."

"Didn't do such a good job of it last time they had me." I slam the drawer shut, and slice a groove through the top of the desk with the scissors. It does worry me, how much I want to take things apart right now. I want to _break_ something. I believe what I'm currently engaged in is suppressing reactions to what I've been presented with, at least if what Nosha explained to me is correct. I'll unsuppress and freak out later, when I have more space to do it in, and someone less brain-fried to listen to me.

"They weren't trying hard. That was nothing but a way to pull Mannie to them. Didn't work, so they're changing tactics."

"They keep coming back to that, don't they? What _does_ Azzie have against Lilim that go Bright? No one spent so much time and attention on Hushi when she got out of Hell." I spin in place, to keep from kicking things. How can he think I'd consider this? What have they _done_ to my best friend? "They think I'm the only reason he's still in Heaven? He has more incentive than that to stay Bright."

"But if you Fall," Jack says, and it's the first time we've hit it directly, "he would come to find you." He laughs. It's not a pretty sound. "It all comes back to that damn Lilim, doesn't it? You wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. And neither would I."

"You got yourself here." I kick the desk's chair across the room, and it hits the wall in a satisfying manner. "You could have waited. You could have let us take care of that."

"Maybe I was always meant to be here," Jack says. "Not like I was ever much of a Mercurian. It's a lot easier to be a Friend of Man when you're surrounded by blessed souls than down on Earth where you can find out how rotten they are."

"Meant to be here? Jack, no one is ever _meant_ to be a demon. God doesn't work that way." On the other side of the room, I can kick the chair back to the opposite wall. One leg cracked. Absolutely pointless, but it does help me keep from doing anything...stupid. "So tell me, brand new Impudite, who are you going to be working for, if not for the Game? I don't think they're on the best of terms with Valefor, so Theft seems out."

"I wouldn't work for _him_ ," Jack says, tone as disgusted as it's ever been when someone compares Wind to Theft. "No, they're going to set up a transfer for me over to the War. I've been around long enough to be useful, and that's one Superior who understands sometimes humans do need killing."

"Baal. Interesting choice." On the third kick, a leg falls off the chair. Satisfying. "And, what, you expect me to follow you there?"

"I'm not the only one in the room with a violent streak, am I?" That jerks me to a stop, and Jack grins at me. "You'd fit in. And it's not like you can't follow orders, right? Worked _that_ little issue out between the triad coming around every week to chisel you into submission and then taking to the service of the ultimate micromanager."

I toss the unscrewed light bulb into the air, watch it drop onto the carpet and roll around. "The Calabite lifestyle doesn't appeal. Too slow." I can imagine, for a moment, not knowing where I am, how to get anywhere, how to _move_ , and it frightens me.

"I'm trying to help you. They will break you, no matter what you think now. Come with me, and we can stick together. Watch out for each other. Like we used to." He's lost all his smiles again. "I don't want them to hurt you, but if you don't come with me, I can't stop them. This is bigger than you or me."

"This is demons playing games," I say, and wedge two twisted paperclips into the socket of the lamp where the light bulb used to go. "There is always a choice. Even if they can force dissonance on me, I can convert it to Discord." I wonder if anyone is coming to save me, this time. I hope not. They're too well-prepared for my taste, and I don't want to put anyone else at risk.

All these resources, all this time and effort, spent on what? Trying to push me to a place I'll never go, for one more hook on Mannie. I begin to understand his paranoia. You can't reason with Hell, you can't appeal to the Game for sense, not once they've decided on something. Good thing I can be pretty stubborn too.

"What, you'd let them turn you into a puddle of Discord? I'm giving you an opportunity!"

I crumple sheets of paper from the desk into loose balls, and drop them onto the floor. One after another, in a little white pile of wasted tree pulp. "No, Jack, you're trying to convince me to change my very nature and fight against all of Heaven, so that you won't feel so lonely when you're surrounded by strangers. I'm an angel, in case you'd forgotten. That means I'm kinda against the whole Hell thing. Remember?" The lamp smashes when I throw it against the wall. Wood and pottery are indeed superior to plastic and metal, when it comes to filling out an office. "Which means, yes, I'd take Discord before letting myself Fall. Or let them rip me apart. Or anything else that's, as you put it, necessary. Because that's what angels do."

"I'm trying to help you," he says. Nearly a whisper. "What would it take? If you're not willing to do this for me, or even for yourself, what can I offer you?"

"Nothing," I say, and it's not quite true, but why should I give him one more lever against me?

"I'm not enough."

"No. You're not. No one person is." I wish this room had windows for me to break. "No one person should ever be. I'm a child of Eli, and I work for Jean, but even that shouldn't be where my ultimate loyalties lie. What part of 'angel' have you failed to grasp in all this time?"

"So what do you want?" I don't think he's even listening to me. "You want Mannie? They'll get him back eventually. Beat the rush and maybe you can lay a claim before he arrives. Aglaya? They already have her. Bet if you asked nicely they'd let you keep her. She didn't tell you about the part where she's been working for the Game, did she? I hope you haven't been stupid enough to believe anything she's told you."

That shouldn't hurt as much as it does.

But it does explain a lot.

"You really want to help me, don't you." In whatever twisted way he thinks is right, as if Falling would somehow be _better_ than me dying. Demons are selfish enough to believe that. Better that he have me than that I be myself. I crouch down in the corner by the broken lamp and crumpled paper. "You're not even lying to me."

"We've been friends for as long as I've been alive," Jack says, and I don't want to think about him as a reliever right now, one more thing to add to the list of what I'm not thinking about. "Of course I want to protect you."

"It's funny," I say, though there's nothing funny about anything right now. "I'm not a Sparky. Don't have the temperament for it, or the education, or the IQ. But I've been hanging out with them for a while now. And Vapulans. You wouldn't believe how many Vapulans I've been talking to this last year or so. Talk to either group for long, you start picking up all sorts of interesting facts."

I turn the switch on the lamp, and watch the sparks buzz from the place where I wedged in those paperclips. He can't see it from where he's sitting, not yet.

"And?" Jack can't tell what it has to do with anything.

All the little heap of paper catching on fire. And the carpet starting to singe at the flying sparks. The lamp is still sending its flurry of electricity. He'll smell the burning, soon, not to mention the disturbance. "So it rubs off on a guy, that's what." I stand up, walk back around the desk, and sit on the top. Two other people in the room, and they're both watching me. Not what they can't see behind the desk. "A little science can go a long way. There was this one Vapulan who told me about all _sorts_ of interesting things you could do with your basic household appliance. I mean, granted, Shedite, and at the time it was trying to intimidate me with the explanations of what it could do to me, but...useful."

"So what's your point?"

I look over my shoulder. Proper flames now, and they're spreading. Quickly becoming too high to stamp out. Nothing's destroyed enough to rumble audibly through the Symphony, but soon. "I was going to ask you how you could do this to me. To Janus. To Sharon. But I don't think it's worth it. You have all your answers ready. So I'm giving up on that line of inquiry. Dropping the subject. Wait, let me be more accurate, I'm changing the topic."

"It's not as if--" Jack stops. I think he's just now smelled the smoke. That, and I can hear the encroaching rumble of the Symphony realizing a celestial has been tampering. Another few seconds, and he'll be able to see the flames. "What are you doing?"

"Being proactive." If he were an enemy, I'd smile at him right around now, but he's my oldest and best friend. It's all I can do not to cry. "You've been making some big decisions of late. Time to make another one. I leave it into your hands."

Jack's not so fast as I am, but speedy enough when there's a sign of trouble. He pulls me off the desk, I can hear the flames crackling behind me now. "What are you _doing_?"

"Asked that one already. How much do you want to bet they don't have a fire extinguisher anywhere in this office?" The Djinn's even looking concerned, though he's still standing in front of the door.

"That's--fuck, Kai! Look at that!" Jack pulls me further back, and I let myself be maneuvered to the other side of the room. It's turning into a very pretty sight, carpet and broken chair crackling ever higher. Oh, and there goes the first edge of the desk, sparks setting all the papers there on fire. "Are you insane?"

His arm's wrapped around me as if he could protect me. Makes my chest tighten to think about this. "Too late to put it out with anything in here," I say, and lean back against him. Not going to have him much longer, I will take this comfort while I can. "Both of you probably have plenty of Essence, but we haven't hit dawn, so I don't have one. No way I can jump celestial." He's reassuring as a surface to lean on, as a friend to rely on. Illusions. "You can open that door, or I can lose another vessel. Not a fun way to go, but the Boss will understand."

The heat's growing. I pull away from him, take off my jacket, and toss it onto the burning desk. Nothing in those pockets that I care about, not since they confiscated my piccolo and my phone back in the car. The jacket lights up. Suppose I can't lend it to Aglaya any more. Not that it ever did her any good.

"You are. Entirely. _Insane_." Jack grabs my wrist, drags me over to the door, and...the entire argument with the Djinn is in Helltongue, I did _not_ want to hear that from him. And then he's crouched down in front of the door, picking the lock, while I watch the fire and the Djinn watches me.

The door swings open, and I'm running.

Dark hallways lit by what firelight streams out of that door behind me. They're only an instant behind me, but I'm faster than either. Don't know where I'm going, but I'm moving. Forget this whole "waiting to be rescued" thing, I'm escaping on my own before anyone else gets hurt trying to help me.

The fire alarms buzz around me, nothing more than the cheap residential sort. This whole building is old, decaying, an empty building abandoned by everyone but the Game. No, I suppose they wouldn't risk anything but a decaying Tether on someone like me. I take my turns at random. The fire exits aren't clearly labeled.

Suddenly in front of me, a Balseraph, dark wings spreading behind her celestial form. "Little fool," she says, and I think this must be the Seneschal, "you cannot run from the Game." She opens her mouth to sing--

"Your Tether is burning down," I say. "In case you cared."

Her eyes go wide, and she rushes forward. Through me. Just because I can't feel it doesn't make that any less unpleasant. Balseraph through the chest, ew. And what did she _think_ all that disturbance was coming from, a whole cascade of breaking chairs?

Running again. Something of a trademark skill among my Choir. Knew one Ofanite who would get huffy about cars, said it was only _real_ motion if you were doing it yourself, but if I can use this vessel to keep my feet in motion and take myself down these halls, don't see anything wrong with using a car the same way. Just a different tool. And it would be useful to have a car right around now, but somehow, I don't think they're going to be storing one inside the building, more's the pity. Now, if Nosha were here--

I hit the Djinn full-on, bounce off, and if he can't damage me, doesn't stop him from trying to pin me down. My pockets are burning merrily somewhere back in the building (I don't know how far back, I can smell the smoke from here), and this demon isn't wearing any convenient wristwatches. Got to give me something to work with, here.

One handcuff snaps shut around my wrist, and I could _do_ something with the other end, except it's attached to the Djinn. "Should have done this sooner," he says, and yanks me up by that wrist. "Follow."

"Have you ever considered channeling your clingy instincts into more productive pursuits?" I'd pull back against his dragging, except I don't think I _want_ to be in the part of the building that's blazing behind us. Let's see, best way to incapacitate a Djinn while--wait a minute, what am I going to _do_ with him if I kill him? Running out of here with a body chained to my wrist would get tricky. I suppose I could cut off a hand, but that's messy, and I'm not sure either of us has anything sharp handy. "Incidentally, do you carry a pocketknife? I'm asking for purely theoretical reasons."


	34. An Intermission With Judgment

Nomikos was beginning to wish he still worked with Adala, who had always carried a bottle of painkillers for the aftermath of Kai's enthusiastic and heartfelt theories about How Things Worked. His headache was growing, and it was never a good sign when the Seraph was shouting. Nor, for that matter, when Cherub and Ofanite were hovering on either side of the equally loud Cherub of Lightning, in case he tried to run off. Or hit someone. 

And of course it was the Lightning Servitor who had the dangerous-looking weapon. The large, glowing weapon, which Theo had explained as a prototype "with a few bugs still, so it needed field-testing" and nothing more than that. All of which would be acceptable--at least, from a distance--if it weren't for the little...disagreement, going on.

One did not storm a Tether of the Game at a moment's notice. Especially not without prior approval from someone higher in the chain of command. Nor with four angels, only one heavily armed.

Then again, one didn't allow the Game to walk off with a perfectly good angel, and therein lay the debate.

He would have appreciated a quiet moment to speak with one of them--nearly any of them--but all their attentions were turned elsewhere, and so Nomikos strode away. Not so far as to be out of easy reach should any danger appear, but with enough distance that the shouting was a touch less painful on his ears.

The night was cold, overcast, and showed no sign of edging towards dawn, no matter that his watch told him it ought to be arriving soon.

His phone rang.

Nomikos opened it up, saw nothing he could recognize in the number. "Hello?"

"Nomikos, do you have a sword on you?"

"...Kai?"

"Or a knife. That'd work. Or, actually, a hacksaw would be _better_ , but I could use anything sharp and pointy. Preferably strong enough to get through bone. Would you believe he wasn't carrying a key?"

Nomikos walked very quickly back towards the others, gave them a quick _Shut up_ hand gesture that everyone but the Sparky caught and obeyed. "What's the situation?"

"Well, I kinda have this unconscious Djinn chained to my wrist, which is causing serious problems with the whole quick getaway idea, and I think they're going to find me soon either way, so if you could show up in the near future? That would be spiffy. Do you still have that talisman I gave you?"

"Yes, we know where you are. What's _happening_?" Theophylaktos finally stopped shouting to stare at him intently, and the way the Cherub's hands made abortive gestures suggested he would've stolen the phone if he thought he could wrestle it free.

"Set fire to the building, then tracked down where they were keeping my phone. I think that distracted them. Of course, I don't know how to get out of here, all the doors are locked, and this Djinn doesn't have the lightest vessel ever, so if you could show up in the near future, that would be really, really conven--um. Gotta go." A shout of Helltongue on the other end, a crash, and the line cut off.

Nomikos closed his eyes briefly. Opened them again. "Kai has managed to set fire to the Tether, though I believe the demons have caught up with him." He couldn't decide how to follow that, and so left the explanation hanging in the air.

"Nice work," said the Lightning Servitor. "Surely _now_ you can't object to a quick raid. There won't be much Tether left standing anyway."

Nomikos saw how the Cherub hefted that glowing weapon, and wondered if that sentence should have ended "once I've dealt with it.". But chose not to comment. There was a scent of smoke on the wind, a distant roar of disturbance, and no one was shouting anymore.


	35. In Which People Escape

Smoke has filled the building, Jack is shouting at the Habbalite in Helltongue, and I _still_ have an unconscious Djinn chained to my wrist. The day is not looking up.

It seems somehow wrong that I'm the only one of us standing here who isn't injured. Though I don't know what happened to give Jack that gash down the side of his face, and if I find out who did it--

No. This is _bad_. If I'm still trying to protect him, I'm going to have a serious problem when Nomikos shows up. Assuming Nomikos is even in the same state, I didn't think to ask at the time. What did we do before cell phones? I remember when I was convinced a cell phone couldn't be as interesting as a phone with a cord.

I traveled a lot less at the time. Voluntarily or otherwise.

"I don't suppose either of you has the key?" Only Jack looks at me. "Never mind, forget I asked." I'm not sure an unconscious Djinn is an improvement over a conscious one, under these circumstances. I'm reminded of the old joke about how you tell a dead Djinn from a living one. First heard that one when Jack brought a half dozen Windies in to crash in my apartment for three days. Seldom have so many of my possessions gone missing in such a short time.

"We need to go," Jack says, and I'm not sure why he's back to English. "Or have you not noticed that this place is burning down around us?"

"This will be addressed," says the Habbalite. And makes the mistake of wandering too close to where I'm standing.

Can't run anywhere with this weight on my wrist, but I've acquired a stapler from the office where they caught up with me. You can do a lot of damage with a stapler. Well, _I_ can do a lot of damage with a stapler, applied in the right place. Currently the right place would be defined as the back of the Habbalite's head.

Don't like Habbalah, not at all.

She's stupid enough to try to fight back instead of getting out of the way, and that costs her one eye. Reduced visibility, excellent idea, and I get the second eye out just before Jack tackles me.

"Stop it," he snarls at me, all his weight on me, hands on my wrists. "Don't you see you're just making this worse?"

"Worse for whom?" I can't help the giggle. "I'm supposed to kill demons, remember? It's in my job description. Did you know they gave me a job description? They have those, in Lightning." He hauls me back to my feet, doesn't let go of my wrists. "They kept adding bits to it, and then Gariel got annoyed with all the details and reduced it to one line. 'Other duties as assigned.' Isn't that beautiful?"

"You're insane, Kai." Such a fond tone. Like the way he'd tease me about every little thing I couldn't manage, all the places he was so much better than I was.

"My best friend Fell. You'll have to excuse my lack of composure. It's been a long week." The Habbalite is clutching her face, but I'm not concerned about her. I lean against his chest. This vessel is tall enough to prop my chin on his shoulder, first one I've had that can do that. It's comfortable. "Unlock me, would you? I don't want to burn to death, no matter what I said earlier."

He keeps one hand on my free wrist, and undoes the lock with three wires held in his other hand. Clever trick, that. "Let's get outside," he says, and slaps the cuff that was around the Djinn's wrist onto his own.

At least he knows the way to an exit.

The fire's on the other side of the building, and outside is cold. I wish I hadn't lost my jacket back in the fire. Not that I can blame anyone but myself for that. "Prepared for an outside assault," I say.

"Yeah. I'm not sure anyone _can_ prepare for you. Not with your propensity for chaos. I still say you would have done fine in the Wind." Jack frowns down at me. "You're shivering."

"Hey, it's late November, you'd be cold too if it weren't for the jacket." I let him wrap an arm around me. "It's still a nice jacket. More Windy than War, mind." I wish I could see the stars. Would be reassuring to stare out into that distance. It helps remind me that this conflict is bigger than I am. To make losing one battle hurt a tiny bit less.

"Probably right on that count." He sighs quietly above me. "There's nothing I can say to convince you, is there?"

"Nope." I'm perfectly still, but the world is rushing by underneath me.

"You run off now, it's going to get _personal_ , Kai. They've been going after you to get at Mannie, but now? They're going to want you specifically." His grip ever tighter around me. It's a little odd to be able to hear him so clearly, when the roar of disturbance from the fire feels like it ought to block out other sounds. "There's no way I can protect you from that. The Game's not entirely like Judgment, they can stomp over anyone if they want to."

"If I were that worried about my own safety... Well. I don't know what I'd be, but it wouldn't be me." Those are headlights, winding down the distant dark road towards this place. Here comes the cavalry. "Jack? I kinda gave Judgment that talisman you loaned me, so they could track you. I'm not entirely sorry, but I feel I ought to let you know."

"Can't blame you for that." He lets go of me, turns me around until we're facing each other, still connected by this bit of metal. "So is this the part where you try to kill me, or just step out of the way while they do it?"

"Trauma sucks, and it wouldn't accomplish anything. Go." I'd like to have a parting smile for him, but I'm not that good an actor. "I can't hurt you, Jack. But I'm not going to promise that'll be true the next time we meet. Now give me back my stuff, you bastard."

"More than fair." Little silver phone and little silver piccolo deposited into my hands. He picks the lock on the cuffs again, and then pulls off his jacket. Drops it over my shoulders. "Any last words?"

What am I supposed to say now?

He drops his vessel. It hurts, it hurts to see him like that. I always liked the cheerful absurdity of his white-feathered wings to frame his mischievous smile, nothing at all like these black leather wings that match the jacket I'm now wearing, turn him dark and dangerous before me. "See you around."

He drops down to whatever Heart they've made for him in Hell.

"See you around." They'll give this Role and vessel to someone else. Jack's going to be in for a surprise if he tries to track me by that. And while he still keeps that vessel, _I_ can recognize him, even if he doesn't know it's me.

So it's not entirely altruism and old friendship that had me giving him a break. The Boss will understand.

The Balseraph from the car is at the door to the courthouse, lit up from behind by the fires burning inside, and she stands ready for any Cherub or Malakite who's come to attack this place.

Probably not for the five people getting out of that car, though.

I stay out of the way of the gunshots. Not my sort of fight, and none of them are trying to hit me. Let them shoot it out while this place burns. Not going to be much of the Tether left after the building is gone. I can see what Jack means about the Game taking this personally.

The Bal sings up Corporeal Shields, flees back into the building, and no one seems inclined to follow. Wonder if the Djinn's woken up, if the Habbie's found her way out with no eyes to lead her, if the Seneschal is having any luck putting out the flames.

There's the Habbalite, in celestial form, making her way out of the building. Flames and a torn vessel won't bother her in this form. I don't think any of them are ready to flee back to Hell without me. If I had enough Essence to drop this vessel and--

\--okay, _that_ works. A Cherub and Ofanite I don't recognize jump to celestial form, and pounce. Wish I could be playing my own part in that fight. At least I can watch, there's a Seraph right on their heels--

\--except Theo's holding me so tightly I can barely breathe, and at a bad angle to watch the show. "Hey," I gasp. "Nice to see you again. Let go?"

He loosens his grip, but not by much. "Don't you ever, ever run off like that again." Walks me back to the car, and I'm spending a lot of time today being pushed around by people. "I'm going to get a _leash_. Or load you with tracking devices and program something to let me know every time you move more than a certain distance away from me. Or maybe tag every demon with sensors that'll ping your sensors if they get too close to you and alert me to their presence. Or--"

"Theo? Much as I'd like to join in the demon-tagging fun, I'm having a hard time breathing."

My Cherub pushes me into the back seat of the car. "Sit. Stay. And I mean _stay_ , I'm not going far, but if you're gone when I get back--"

"I'm an Ofanite!"

He thrusts a yo-yo into my hands. "Stay." And stomps away towards where the interesting events of the evening are going on, swinging his big shiny gun down from his shoulder into a ready position.

I think he's annoyed.

I run the yo-yo up and down a few times. Find that I want to untie the string and see what else I can take apart, and I don't know if that's stress or just a subtle Habbalite push towards destructive behavior. In any case, I leave the yo-yo intact.

Not a barrel of thrills.

Nomikos rests one arm on the open door, and looks down at me. "What fun."

"Tell me about it." Maybe if I catch up with Theo I can convince him I'm trying to stay near to him in case anyone tries to--no, he won't buy that. "You're not joining in?"

"They seem to have it in hand." I could almost imagine amusement, somewhere in that voice. "Kai. We're not going to find Jack here, are we?"

"Nope." The yo-yo only goes up and down, up and down. In something of a rut, as movement goes. But that's okay. You don't need to go new places. Only wherever you're supposed to go. "He'll be working for the War next. Though I don't know if that'll happen. Depends on what direction the Game decides to focus its annoyance. I guess they can't be _too_ annoyed, or Asmodeus himself would be here."

"Heaven forbid." Amen to that. "Tell me, Kai, do you _try_ to do things like this, or do they just happen?"

"A little bit of both, I guess." I wrap my arms tight around myself. This jacket's too big for me, and it's awkward to have the handcuffs dangling off one wrist out of the too-long sleeve. "I shouldn't worry. I mean, it shouldn't even be worth worrying about, but Jack's right. I do get violent. I break things a lot. Sometimes it even makes me feel better, though mostly it's just what happens to be in the way while I fight. Should I be worried? Maybe I should."

"I believe," Nomikos says, "that you should be an angel of motion, a faithful Servitor of your Archangel, and a diligent employee of the Archangel who's taken you into his service for the moment."

"But I'm already all of that."

"Well, then. That's an excellent start, isn't it?"

He's still straight-faced. I'm not sure Judges are allowed to make jokes. But I'll make my own assumptions. "Nomikos, could I ask you a question?"

"Certainly."

"Do you have a hacksaw?"


	36. An Epilogue With The Game

All waiting rooms of the Game are too dim, or too bright. A little too hot, or a little too cold. Spotless, and yet implying grime lurking in every shadow.

If one is important enough to deserve better, one is important enough to not wait.

Aglaya sat still, and did not shiver. It was an effort of will, and hers was sufficient to the task. It was a distraction from considering what might come next, and her will was not sufficient to that task.

"You can go in," said the Shedite at the desk. A few of its mouths leered as she walked past, but she gave no sign that such things were worth considering.

There was no place for her to sit inside the office. She stood and waited for the Balseraph to notice her.

"Well," he said, finally. "That wasn't what I'd call a complete success." Six eyes narrowed at her. "In fact, you failed to accomplish the one very simple task we'd set you to do."

Aglaya nodded. What good would denying it do?

"When we agreed not to turn your traitorous hide in to your own Prince," the Balseraph said, "it was on the assumption that you could complete this task. If I recall correctly, you swore that you could do this. And yet. You did not."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Not that it would do any good.

"Of course you are." One leathery wing tapped a sheet of paper into the center of his desk. "And, my, you _have_ acquired a fair number of Geases since we sent you off, haven't you? Even more than the ones we set on you. I'm not sure if I should take that as a sign of incompetence or diligence. What shall we do with you now?"

She couldn't think of any answer to that. Stared mutely at him. Pleading with the Game was useless.

"You have achieved some minimal success," said the Balseraph, his voice turning more clinical. "Though you weren't able to deliver the one we'd requested, you have provided a new handle. And subsequent events, much as one might _wish_ to blame them on you, were not your responsibility. So be it. If we must play dominoes from a few more pieces out, we shall. Now. Tell me the truth, Impudite. Would this Ofanite still come for you, if you presented yourself as a Renegade seeking sanctuary?"

"He would," she said. All her throat felt raw. It would have been glorious, for one instant, to shout, _no, you can't have him, you won't, I won't let you._

Her madness was not so great as to allow this, no matter how much she wished it were.

"Then you retain some utility. Congratulations. You won't be turned over to your Prince." The Balseraph smiled. "Your betrayal of that Habbalite did show...promise. It was a neat setup and double-cross. Or had you hit a triple-cross by that point? If you survive this next assignment, there may be a place for you with us. You bear watching."

"Another assignment?" They weren't going to kill her. It was nearly a disappointment. Death at someone else's hands would have removed all her fears at once.

"You're about to go Renegade, Aglaya. After this failure, that will be necessary to convince any of the Host to listen to you again. Your objective remains the same. We'll provide you with a way to contact us once you've found that Ofanite again."

"You want me to pretend I'm a Renegade?"

"Did I say anything about pretending? When I send you out of this office, you will return to Tartarus, break your Heart, and flee. There is little so useful as the truth for covering deception. A spoonful of honey makes the medicine go down."

She couldn't stop the shivering now. "But you...won't be chasing me, right?"

"Of course we will. You'll be a Renegade, and we always seek out those, to destroy or capture." His smile grew colder. "Rest assured, Aglaya, you will be a very low priority Renegade. Consider the matter of avoiding capture one of your tests. If you succeed in both that and your assignment, opportunities will open for you. If you do not..." A shrug rippled through his body. "The fate of a Renegade is seldom pleasant. You may wish to remember this."

"Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed." His six eyes returned to other paperwork.

Aglaya stumbled out of the office, couldn't care who might see her shivering, coated in Geases, blank-eyed. If the Game didn't catch her, if Technology didn't catch her, if the Host didn't catch her, if she could only get back to Kai and explain--

Did it matter? No one ever played against the Game and won.


	37. An Epilogue With Us

"I feel like I'm in a hamster wheel."

"Hey, you're the one who asked to try." I'm rolling through the sky more slowly than usual, because Sharon is trying to walk along the bottom of my ring as I go. It's not working out gracefully, though it's not like she'll hit the ground when she slips out or I move to fast.

"Quite right." She slides down to sit in my ring as if it were a tire swing. "Sometimes, it would be easier to believe in predestination."

"Everything happens the way it ought to happen, and for no other reason?" I swing back and forth, consider this. "Can't buy it. It posits too cruel a God, to say she's preordained the bad stuff, too."

"Me either. But I can wish, sometimes. Like everything would make more sense." She leans her head against my inside rim. "I wonder what he thinks of me, now. If it's changed, or if it hasn't changed, or if he doesn't think of me at all. I'm not sure what would be worst."

"I don't know. I didn't ask." It feels selfish, now, to have been so worried about what Jack's Fall was doing to me, that I barely thought of what it's done to Sharon. "I'm sorry."

"I think I'm happier not knowing." She gets back to her feet. Tennis shoe soles along my inside rim aren't something I've felt before. I don't mind, though they kinda tickle. "Look, no offense, but if I talk about this any longer, I'm going to get depressed again, and that ends up with me sniffling at Teresa over hot chocolate. She doesn't mind, but I think her boss is getting annoyed at the drop in productivity. So I'm going to play tag with a bunch of relievers, and then go hassle Jaasau, okay?"

"Are you going to be okay?" I slide out from under her, swirl tight around her for a moment. Can't give people proper full-body hugs in a vessel the way I can in this form.

"If it had been one or the other... No. I wouldn't. But it's everything at once, which is more than I can take the time to panic about, so I'll deal eventually. Might take me a while, but I don't have a patch on what some people around here had to go through when they were alive." She pushes off to float cross-legged in the air. "Now go reassure your Cherub and clingy Bright, before they start looking at me suspiciously for taking up all your time, and I'll catch you later."

Sharon gives good advice, so I take it, and spiral off to find Theo. Easy enough to find, what with having an office, name on the door and everything. "Still planning on tagging all the demons on the corporeal plane?"

He's not as fearsome-looking in celestial form as his vessel would make him out to be. Kinda cuddly, even. Like a bunny-rat with a long fluffy tail. I had to go look up what a bilby was after getting back here, to identify the form. Right now his ears are sticking out straight on either side of his head so that he can peer into a scientific instrument that isn't accommodating towards his head. "I'm told it would be impractical. More's the pity. But if you run into the Game again, I intend to be better prepared."

"You were joking about the leash. Right?"

"Maybe." One ear twitches.

"...right." I've done my duty, checked in with Cherub, now I'm _leaving_. Before he gets any more ideas.

When I'm halfway down the hall, I think I can heard him snickering, but I'm not about to go back and check.

Mannie's all wrapped up in his note-taking or whatever it is that he does all day at work, so I sneak up behind him. Being able to roll a few inches above the ground is useful for the whole sneakiness thing.

"Hello, Kai."

"Okay, setting up security cameras to see if I'm coming is _cheating_."

"Actually, it was the reflection in the laptop screen," Mannie says, and turns around. "Computers are useful for _some_ things."

"Luddite." I sweep up all around him, curling myself fire-ribbon tight until I can't feel anything but him. "Even I can appreciate computers, and I'm lousy with them. Always ended up with my hard drive so filled with spyware and junk that I'd be afraid to touch the thing until Jack came by and..." Didn't mean to come here and talk about that. "...um. Fix things. Run programs. Stuff."

If he says he's sorry, I think I might have to flee.

But instead, he says, "You might want to send a thank you note to Zif. Considering she was the one who had to sit on me until I stopped trying to dash off to a Tether to get to you."

"I'm glad she did." I don't think he means the part about being sat upon literally. Topic of conversation, another topic of conversation. I pull myself free, and sweep around the office. Books papers files, same as always--except that on the side of one bookcase, there's a framed painting. Looks to have been done in crayon, of a little turquoise Seraph in the middle of flowers. "So you're finally decorating!"

"It was a gift," Mannie says, and looks elsewhere in the way that means he's embarrassed. "It would have been rude to turn it down."

"Who's in the picture?"

"Ling. A Seraph of Flowers. It's...a long story. Which I'll tell you over coffee, if you'd like." 

"I always like coffee." Two ice cream cones of espresso ice cream, one for her and one for me, except I'm not thinking about that either. "When does your schedule allow for that?"

"I have time," he says, and sends off an email. "Let's go."

Ling's story is gratifying, in its own sad way. Fourth cup of coffee in, and maybe I can talk about what I've been trying to ignore. This coffee shop has private corners to speak in, and we've claimed what I think is Mannie's favorite. A little strange, sometimes, that these days he knows Heaven better than I do.

"I'm not sure I did so well, Mannie."

"How do you mean?" He's put on one of his neutral masks, for listening to me being upset, no judgment in it. I appreciate the consideration. I can't spend too much time near the Windies right now, the sympathy hurts to see, even worse when it's empathy because they knew Jack too.

"Took me forever to work out what was going on with the Vapulans. And I didn't, really, I just got lucky and had info given to me and then other people worked it out."

"You're not a scientist, Kai. People handle what aspects of their job they're able, and request assistance for the rest." He takes a sip from his own coffee; he's still two cups behind me in the caffeine contest. "You don't see me attempting serious work in virology, do you?"

"No, but... I mean, I got caught by the Game _again_. You'd think I would have been more careful, I should have known what was going on with Jack. It was stupid of me."

"Possibly. But you burned down one of their Tethers in the process, so I'd call that a win." A faint smirk breaks through the mask, and, no, he wouldn't mind at all if I did damage to that branch of Hell.

"It was an old, weak Tether."

"But still a Tether." He sets down the cup. "You did that nearly in passing, and without any of the people who came after you so much as losing a vessel. That takes talent, Kai."

"I'm not sure I want to think about what sort of talent. Then there's...the other matter." A reliever brings by cup number five for me. "And...it's not what bothers me the most, because it's so outranked by Sharon and Jack. But it's what feels the most like my fault."

"Aglaya." He's masking again. I don't know what he thinks about her.

"Yeah. It was--I mean, I _thought_ I could bring her back to Lightning. I really did. But now I don't know how much of that was only acting, and how much was real... And it probably doesn't matter, because if she was working for the Game, they're not going to let her go. Not if they think there's even a chance." I sigh into my coffee. "I'm sorry I wasted your time on trying to help her."

"Not entirely a waste of time," Mannie says.

"How so?"

"I'll explain...some other time. After certain issues have been resolved, in one manner or another. I'm reluctant to go into details at this stage." He puts one hand along my ring, lets me wrap warm flames around his fingers. "You're doing your best. No one can ever ask more. You'll learn from experience, which is more than some people ever do."

"What would I do without you, Mannie?"

"Possibly be kidnapped less often." He stands up, not letting go of me yet. "I do need to get back to work. But rest assured, you are fighting entropy with the best of them. Even on days when it's two steps forward, three steps back... You're still moving forward."

"Of course I'm moving forward." I finish off my coffee in one go, and spin alongside him. "I'm an Ofanite. It's what I _do_."

"I've noticed." He's been patterning his smiles after the type Jean uses. I admire the dedication. And it looks good on him. "Go with speed, then."

"Always."

In the Halls of Creation, I spin around that spiral staircase until I'm ready to see it, and then I move up the stairs. Until I find the two steps Jack and I made as relievers.

It would feel more dramatically appropriate if his step had cracked, or turned dull. But it's the same as always.

It'll wait here for him to come back, even if it takes forever and a day.

I suppose I can wait that long too.


	38. An Epilogue With Lightning

Zif sat behind her desk, hands folded in plain view. A notepad waited, and a pen, though there'd been no writing so far.

"I don't know what this is supposed to accomplish," Yoshiko said. "Aren't you supposed to be asking me to tell you about my awful family life or something?"

"If that's what you'd like to talk about," Zif said.

"It's not like I have these big issues about my Mother like some Lilim do. And it's not like I have any problem with the Word I...um. Served. Or anything like that. I don't have issues! I'm perfectly well-adjusted. Really. You can let me go back to my room."

"If you'd prefer to do so, you may," Zif said.

"What, are you just going to keep being agreeable at me?"

"So long as it would do no harm to you or to this Tether," Zif said, "yes, I intend to be agreeable to your whims, within reason."

"You're here to make me happy?"

"No," Zif said. "I'm here to do my job. Currently, that involves keeping you safe, and listening."

"Listening is your job."

"Yes."

"Like...in the job description?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Yoshiko wrapped her arms around her knees. At least the stupid professional counselor's office had comfortable chairs. And the Cherub wasn't yelling at her about putting her shoes on the chair, either. "To whatever I want to talk about?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

The silence stretched out between them, and somehow the Cherub failed to look discomforted by it.

"It wasn't _fair_ ," Yoshiko said, finally. "It wasn't a real choice. It's all about pretending to give someone a choice so that you don't feel guilty about what you do to them. Like all those stupid movies where some guy's holding a kid hostage, and tells the hero, oh, it'll be _your_ fault if this kid gets shot, because you did whatever it was that I told you not to, and then the hero feels all guilty, but hello, it's not his fault! It's the guy who has the gun to the kid's head! The only reason the choice gets offered is to pawn off responsibility on someone else!"

"Mm," said Zif. And made a brief note on her pad.

"Not that I have issues with this or anything."

"Mm."

Yoshiko leaned back in the chair. "And I'm not going to talk about my Mother, okay?"

"As you'd like."

"Right. Just so we're clear on that." The Lilim scowled. "And I don't even like Lightning."

"How do you feel about Trade?"

Yoshiko blinked, stared at Zif. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Zif said. And made a brief note. "Please continue at your leisure."

"Okay, that whole 'no reason' thing? I'm not believing that for an instant."

"It is possibly fortunate I'm not a Seraph," Zif said. And offered her a very small smile. "Go ahead, whenever you'd like. I'm listening."


End file.
